This Week
The Omaha volleyball team returns home this weekend, welcoming Denver on Tuesday, Oct. 3 and South Dakota on Saturday, Oct. 7 at Baxter Arena. Tuesday's match is set for 7 p.m., and Friday's match will start at 5 p.m. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
•Omaha carries a three-match win streak into the week and has enjoyed a perfect 3-0 start to Summit League play.
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Abby Bergsten's 20 kills at Fort Wayne on Sunday were the second-highest individual total of any Omaha player this season, behind only
Chloe Dousette's 21 vs. Indiana State on Sept. 2.
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Anna Blaschko's 10 blocks were the most of any Maverick this season and the most since
Amanda Conlin had 10 vs. Murray State on Sept. 17, 2016.
•Bergsten averaged a team-leading 3.56 kills per set while hitting .333 last weekend, while Blaschko had 1.89 blocks and 1.56 kills per set.
•Omaha has had five double-figure block performances as a team this year, going 3-2 in those matches.
•The Mavericks welcomed 10,525 fans to the Omaha Challenge over three days at Baxter Arena, Sept. 14-16. The tournament finale saw a crowd of 5,351 fans for the match between No. 10 Nebraska and Omaha, marking the largest volleyball crowd in Baxter Arena history.
•Omaha was picked to finish in a tie for fifth in the 2017 Summit League Preseason Poll. It finished seventh in the league standings in 2016.
•Head coach
Rose Shires, the winningest coach in program history, is in her 28th year at Omaha.
•Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy has led the Mavericks in double-doubles each of the last three seasons with 19 in her freshman campaign, 24 as a sophomore and 13 more as a junior. Her 65 career double-doubles are the most of any active Maverick.
•O'Shaughnessy is the only Maverick with All-Summit honors on her resume, as she was a 2015 all-league performer.
•Omaha returns eight letterwinners, including four starters, from 2016.
•All-time, Omaha is 1,025-603-7.
Scouting the Denver Pioneers
Denver enters the week with a record of 11-4 (2-1 Summit League) after a 3-0 win at South Dakota State on Sunday. Becca Latham leads the Pioneers with 3.00 kills per set and a .318 hitting percentage, while DU has two of the league's top blockers in Emma Willis (1.15 b/s) and Tina Boe (1.02 b/s).
Head coach Tom Hogan is in his second season at DU with a career record of 34-13.
Denver leads the all-time series with Omaha, 9-1. Their last meeting came Nov. 9, 2016 in Denver, Colo., where the Pioneers won 3-0.
Scouting the South Dakota Coyotes
South Dakota enters the week with a record of 8-7 (2-1 Summit League) after a 3-0 win at Fort Wayne on Friday. The Coyotes welcome Oral Roberts on Tuesday, Oct. 3 before visiting Omaha on Saturday. Rachel Schmidt paces USD with 3.33 kills per set, while Anne Rasmussen's 5.18 digs per set rank second in the league. Brittany Jessen also leads all league setters with 10.09 assists per set.
Head coach Leanne Williamson is in her fourth season at South Dakota and totes a career record of 67-42.
Omaha leads the all-time series with South Dakota, 57-17. Their last meeting came Oct. 29, 2016 in Vermillion, S.D., where the Coyotes won 3-0.
Last Time Out: Omaha Stays Undefeated in League Play With 3-2 Win at Fort Wayne
Omaha showed its grit Sunday afternoon, outlasting Fort Wayne 3-2 (23-25, 28-26, 25-17, 17-25, 16-14) for a road victory at Gates Sports Center. Junior
Abby Bergsten had her finest offensive performance of the season with 20 kills on .312 hitting and five digs. Freshman
Anna Blaschko starred at the net, posting a match-high and season-best 10 blocks with nine kills.
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy tallied her team-leading ninth double-double of the season on 49 assists and 17 digs with four blocks, five kills and an ace.
Freshman
Bella Sade also had a double-figure kill effort with 11 kills on .348 hitting while adding seven digs, two aces and a block. Sophomore
Meagen Roth added nine kills and season highs of 17 digs, three blocks and two aces.
Defensively, freshman
Claire Mountjoy and sophomore
Gessica Gdowski also had double-figure dig showings with 15 and 12, respectively.
Fort Wayne outhit Omaha .196 to .178, but the Mavericks had the edge in blocking, 12-9.
Sydney's Smashing Milestones
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy is making her mark in the record books, as she has 3,789 career assists to her credit to rank fifth in school history. Her next target on the list is Kylie Lebeda (2000-03), who had 3,951.
O'Shaughnessy also moved into the top 20 in Summit League history for career assists earlier this year, and she is now 14th on the list.
O'Shaughnessy passed both the 1,000 career digs and 3,000 career assists marks at the end of her junior season. She was the first Maverick since Amy Steffel (1993-96) to put up at least 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career.
Mack's Back
Junior outside hitter
Mackenzie Horkey earned a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending injury six matches into the 2016 season. The Jordan, Minn., native started the first six matches of 2016, averaging 3.35 kills and 3.55 digs per set.
In 2017, Horkey has picked up right where she left off, averaging a team-leading 2.62 kills per set with eight double-figure kill efforts and six double-doubles. She put up a season-high 17 kills with 13 digs vs. Indiana State (Sept. 2), then followed with 12 kills and a season-high 17 digs vs. Drake (Sept. 7).
Standout Starts
Freshmen
Bella Sade and
Anna Blaschko have both had a standout start to their collegiate careers, and both have served as starting middle blockers for the Mavericks.
Blaschko leads the team with 1.02 blocks per set and has averaged 2.03 kills per set with a team-high .301 hitting efficiency. Entering the week, she is the Summit League leader in solo blocks (19) and fourth for blocks per set.
Sade is second on the team with 0.97 blocks per set and third with 2.43 kills per set while hitting .279. Her blocking average ranks eighth among league players.
2017 Slate Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2017 schedule includes 27 matches against 20 different opponents, and the team will play in eight states across the country. UNO will square off with opponents from seven other conferences, with three from the Missouri Valley, two each from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Mountain West and one apiece from the MAC, Big Sky and Ohio Valley. Five opponents -- Nebraska, Iowa State, K-State, Northern Iowa and Denver -- played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Entering 2017, the Mavericks had never faced three of their opponents: New Mexico, Kent State and Montana. UNO holds a combined all-time record of 192-174 over all teams on the slate this season.
Shires Guides Mavericks as Winningest Coach in School History
Head coach
Rose Shires is the all-time winningest coach in 47 years of UNO volleyball history. In her 28th year at the helm of the Maverick program, Shires owns a career record of 489-375 (.566), with the most wins of the five coaches who have served at Omaha.
The 1996 AVCA National Coach of the Year and a two-time conference coach of the year, Shires has enjoyed tremendous success as UNO's guide. The 1996 campaign saw her lead UNO to a national championship as well as its first North Central Conference championship since 1987, followed by an Elite Eight appearance in 1997. In NCAA Tournament play, Shires' squads have combined for 11 appearances and a 10-10 postseason mark.
Shires is assisted by assistant coach
Elena Pietro, who is in her third season, assistant coach
Micah Rhodes, in his first year, and volunteer assistant coach
Gina Mancuso, who is in her first year on the Maverick staff.
No Longer the Newcomers
In 2017-18, Omaha is in its third year with full Summit League and NCAA Division I postseason eligibility. The Mavericks competed as a reclassifying Division I school from 2011-14, and they officially joined the Summit League in 2012. During the reclassification period, UNO was ineligible for the league tournament and NCAA postseason play, but played a full regular-season conference schedule in its final three transitional years before assuming full eligibility in 2015-16.
Up Next
Omaha returns to action on Friday, Oct. 13, visiting North Dakota State at 7 p.m. in Fargo, N.D. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
