This Weekend
The Omaha volleyball team returns home for two matches at Sapp Fieldhouse this weekend, welcoming Western Illinois on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. and Fort Wayne on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
•Omaha snapped a four-match losing skid last Friday with a 3-0 road sweep of South Dakota State. It was the Mavericks' second sweep over the Jackrabbits this year, as well as their second of the season.
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Gessica Gdowski's nine kills in the third set vs. South Dakota State were the most of any Maverick in a single set this season.
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Sydney O'Shaughnessy's 41 assists vs. SDSU were her highest three-set total of the season and her 10th performance with 40 or more assists this year.
•Omaha's .306 team attack percentage vs. SDSU was its second highest of the season.
•Omaha has had six double-figure block performances as a team this year.
•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.
•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, 13 as a junior and 10 more as a senior. Her 66 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 1,026-607-7.
Scouting the Western Illinois Leathernecks
Western Illinois enters the weekend with a record of 6-17 (1-8 Summit League) after a 3-0 loss to Oral Roberts on Sunday, which stretched the Leathernecks' losing streak to five matches. Emma Norris leads WIU with 2.35 kills per set, while Mackenzie Steckler has a team-best 0.95 blocks per set.
Head coach Kelly Richardson is in her third season with the Leathernecks with a record of 13-73 and a career mark of 96-220 over 10 years.
Omaha leads the all-time series with Western Illinois, 7-4. Their last meeting was Sept. 29 in Macomb, Ill., where the Mavericks won 3-1.
Scouting the Fort Wayne Mastodons
Fort Wayne enters the week with a record of 11-14 (3-6 Summit League) after a 3-1 loss to Denver on Saturday. The Mastodons look to snap a four-game losing streak and play Friday at South Dakota before visiting Omaha. Nicole Rightnowar is fourth in the Summit League with 3.23 kills per set, while Natalie Seiler averages a team-best 0.93 blocks per set.
Head coach Steve Florio is in his fourth season with the Mastodons with a career record of 44-77.
Fort Wayne leads the all-time series with Omaha, 10-2. Their last meeting was Oct. 1 in Fort Wayne, Ind., where the Mavericks pulled out a 3-2 win.
Last Time Out: Mavericks Sweep Past South Dakota State, 3-0
The Omaha volleyball snapped a four-match losing streak Friday night, sweeping past South Dakota State 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-21) at the Sanford Pentagon. Sophomore
Gessica Gdowski exploded for a career-high 14 kills, adding six digs, two blocks, two aces and an assist. Junior
Abby Bergsten joined her in double figures with 11 kills on .500 hitting with no attack errors alongside two blocks.
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy finished with a match-high 41 assists, seven digs, three kills and two aces. Freshman
Bella Sade added eight kills with a match-high six blocks and two aces, and classmate
Claire Mountjoy returned to the lineup for the first time since Oct. 7 and to post a team-leading 12 digs.
Omaha outhit SDSU .306 to .184 and enjoyed a 9-3 blocking advantage.
Sydney's Smashing Milestones
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy is making her mark in the record books, as she has 3,963 career assists to her credit to rank fourth in school history. Her next target on the list is Pam Largen (1988-91), who had 3,984. O'Shaughnessy also moved into the top 20 in Summit League history for career assists earlier this year, and she is now 11th on the list.
Last weekend, O'Shaughnessy also joined Omaha's top 10 for career digs on Oct. 20, knocking Kathy Knudsen (1982-85) out of the 10th spot, which O'Shaughnessy now occupies with 1,257 scoops. Her next target is Chelsea Miller (2002-05), who had 1,384.
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.
Digging In
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy reached the top 10 in school history for career digs last week, passing Kathy Knudsen (1982-85) to occupy the 10th spot with 1,257.
Junior
Mackenzie Horkey enters the week with 952 digs over her Maverick career, needing just 48 more to reach the 1,000 digs plateau.
Mack's Back
Junior
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, ranking second on the team with 2.54 kills per set alongside 10 double-figure kill efforts and eight 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 in the Middle
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.
Sade leads the team with 1.01 blocks per set and is third with 2.47 kills per set while hitting .271. Her block assists (71) rank second among league players, while her blocking average and total blocks (78) are fourth. In league play, Sade is first for block assists (31), total blocks (33) and blocks per set (1.14).
Blaschko is just behind Sade with 0.96 blocks per set and has averaged 1.87 kills per set with a team-high .274 hitting efficiency. Entering the week, she is the Summit League leader in solo blocks (23) and fifth for blocks per set.
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 193-178 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 490-379 (.564), 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.
Up Next
Omaha embarks on its final road weekend of the regular season, visiting South Dakota on Friday, Nov. 3 and Denver on Sunday, Nov. 5. Friday's match is set for 7 p.m., while Sunday's will be played at 3 p.m. CT. Links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
