OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha volleyball team dropped a four-set decision to South Dakota Saturday night, falling 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 20-25, 21-25) at Baxter Arena. The Mavericks are now 6-12 (3-2 Summit League), while the Coyotes improve to 10-7 (4-1).
Leaders for Omaha
Freshman
Bella Sade paced Omaha with team-best 13 kills, seven digs and a season-high-tying seven blocks, which were also a match high.
Junior
Mackenzie Horkey achieved her eighth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs, while senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy finished with 44 assists, nine digs, three kills and an ace.
Defensively, freshman
Claire Mountjoy tallied a career-high 30 digs. Freshman
Kelli Nee made her collegiate debut and earned a start, finishing with 11 digs and an ace.
Leaders for South Dakota
South Dakota was led by a match-high 22 kills from Kristina Susak, who added nine digs, a block and an ace. Hayley Dotseth chipped in 19 kills and 21 digs for a double-double, and Brittany Jessen had another double-double performance with 49 assists and 11 digs. Anne Rasmussen had a match-high 32 digs.
Team Stats
South Dakota hit .184 to Omaha's .172, while the Mavericks had the advantage on the block, 11-8.
Inside Set 1
Omaha fell behind early in the first set as USD opened the match on a 4-0 run, but the Mavericks played catch-up and finally tied it at 11-11 on back-to-back Sade kills. After trading leads, USD went up by two, but Omaha throttled out of a timeout with consecutive kills by Horkey and freshman
Anna Blaschko to knot it a final time at 18-18. The Mavericks took control from there with a Coyote attack error, a Nee ace and a Horkey/Blaschko block for a three-point lead. Omaha outscored USD 4-1 to finish the set, winning 25-20.
Inside Set 2
Omaha built a 6-2 to lead to start the second set, but the Coyotes rallied to go ahead 8-7 on a Meagan Kerns kill. Though Omaha pulled within one four times, USD never relinquished its lead for the remainder of the game and won it 25-20.
Inside Set 3
USD created a 9-3 edge to start the third set and took their largest lead at 17-8. Omaha went on a 9-2 run from there, and a block by Blaschko and freshman
Abigayle Meyer punctuated it and cut the deficit to two at 19-17. The Coyotes never let the Mavericks back in under three, however, and seized the set at 25-20 for a 2-1 match lead.
Inside Set 4
USD led the entire fourth set, and Susak led the effort with seven kills. With Omaha closing in at 5-4, four Susak kills powered a 5-0 run to extend the Coyote lead to 10-4. The Mavericks later found themselves trailing 21-15, and three straight kills from Blaschko and sophomore
Chloe Dousette made it 21-18 and forced a USD timeout. Though Omaha pulled within two on a kill by sophomore
Gessica Gdowski to threaten at 23-21, two attacking miscues gave USD the set win, 25-21, and the match, 3-1.
Noting Tonight's Match
-Omaha's blocking total marked its sixth match this season with 10 or more blocks as a team.
-Mountjoy's 30 digs were the most by any Maverick since
Olivia Spanton had 30 vs. North Dakota State on Oct. 16, 2016.
-Tonight marked Omaha's final Baxter Arena appearance of 2017. The Mavericks play their final four home matches this season at Sapp Fieldhouse.
Up Next
Omaha returns to the road next weekend, visiting North Dakota State on Friday, Oct. 13. The match is set for 7 p.m. in Fargo, N.D., and links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
