This Weekend
The Omaha volleyball team plays its final two home matches to close the regular season this weekend, hosting Oral Roberts and North Dakota State at Sapp Fieldhouse. The Mavericks open with ORU on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m., followed by NDSU on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Sunday's match marks Senior Day for Omaha senior duo
Sydney O'Shaughnessy and
Amanda Conlin, and fans are encouraged to arrive early for recognition and festivities.
Quick Hits
•Omaha saw its three-match win streak snapped last Friday in a five-set marathon at South Dakota.
•The Mavericks' 215 swings as a team at USD were its most of the season. The last time the Mavericks had 200+ attacks in a match was Sept. 23, 2016 vs. Fort Wayne (208). Their 110 digs were also their highest team total since Nov. 14, 2015 at IUPUI (101).
•Omaha clinched its spot in the Summit League Tournament the weekend of Oct. 27-28.
•The Mavericks have three sweeps for the season, all in Summit League play.
•Omaha has had eight 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.
•
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, 13 as a junior and 13 more as a senior. Her 69 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 1,028-609-7.
Scouting the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
Oral Roberts enters the weekend with a record of 14-11 (11-2 Summit League) after a 3-1 win over South Dakota last Sunday. The Golden Eagles opened the weekend with a 3-0 loss at Denver, which snapped ORU's six-match win streak.
Laura Milos ranks third nationally with 5.32 kills per set and fourth for aces per set (0.54), also leading the conference in both categories.
Head coach Sheera Sirola is in her 15th season with the Golden Eagles and carries a career record of 269-190.
The all-time series between Omaha and Oral Roberts is tied at 6-6. Their last meeting Oct. 15 in Tulsa, Okla., where the Golden Eagles won 3-0.
Scouting the North Dakota State Bison
North Dakota State enters the week with a record of 16-8 (7-5 Summit League) after a 3-2 win over Fort Wayne last Friday. The Bison snapped a three-match losing spell with the win and visit Western Illinois Friday before facing the Mavericks on Sunday. Mikaela Purnell is the league's leader for digs per set (5.89), while Bella Lien is third for blocks per set (1.01) and Brianna Rasmusson is third for assists per set (9.75).
Head coach Jennifer Lopez is in her first season with NDSU and has a career record of 16-8.
Omaha leads the all-time series with North Dakota State, 43-40. Their last meeting was Oct. 13 in Fargo, N.D., where the Bison won 3-0.
Last Time Out: O'Shaughnessy Hits Milestone as Omaha Falls 3-1 at Denver
Omaha played its final road match of the regular season Sunday afternoon, falling 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 15-25, 16-25) at Hamilton Gymnasium. Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy reached a major career milestone in the match, moving up to No. 2 all-time for career assists at UNO. She passed former Maverick Emily Myers (2008-11), who had 4,102, and the Omaha native has sole possession of the second spot with 4,132 helpers. O'Shaughnessy registered her team-leading 13th double-double of the year with 34 assists, 11 digs, a career-high-tying seven kills, two blocks and an ace.
Junior
Abby Bergsten led the Mavericks with eight kills and added two blocks, while sophomore
Gessica Gdowski was close behind with seven kills and eight digs.
Defensively, freshman
Claire Mountjoy had a team-high 13 digs, and classmate
Kelli Nee added 10 more. Freshman
Bella Sade put up a team-leading three blocks with five kills.
DU hit .331 as a team to Omaha's .209 and had a 5-4 blocking advantage.
Sydney's Smashing Milestones
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy has made her mark in the Maverick record books, as she moved up to No. 2 in school history for career assists last weekend. The Omaha native passed Emily Myers (2008-11) and now has 4,132. O'Shaughnessy also moved into the top 20 in Summit League history for career assists earlier this year, and she is now eighth on the list.
Entering the final week of the regular season, O'Shaughnessy ranks 13th nationally among NCAA Division I active career leaders.
Digging In
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy reached the top 10 in school history for career digs on Oct. 20, passing Kathy Knudsen (1982-85). She now has 1,307 digs to her credit to occupy the 10th spot, and her next target is Chelsea Miller (2002-05), who had 1,384.
Junior
Mackenzie Horkey enters the week with 998 digs over her Maverick career, needing just two 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 2.37 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 1.03 blocks per set and is second with 2.37 kills per set while hitting .276. Her total blocks (96) lead the Summit League, while her blocking average and block assists (85) rank second among league players. In conference play, Sade is first for block assists (45).
Blaschko is just behind Sade with 1.01 blocks per set and has averaged 1.96 kills per set with a .288 hitting efficiency. Entering the week, she is the league leader in solo blocks (28), third for total blocks (94) and fourth for blocks per set. She is also Omaha's active career leader for solo blocks, and she holds both of the team's double-digit individual blocking performances this season with 10 at Fort Wayne (Oct. 1) and 10 more at South Dakota (Nov. 3).
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 195-180 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 492-381 (.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.
Home Sweet Home Advantage
The 2017 season will see Omaha play 10 home contests, including seven conference tilts. UNO will play at two venues, with six matches at Baxter Arena and four matches at Sapp Fieldhouse.
Omaha has earned at least five home wins in each of the last three seasons, tallying five in 2014, seven in 2015 and five in 2016.
Up Next
Omaha heads to the Summit League Championship, Nov. 17-19, in Denver, Colo. The Mavericks, who have already clinched a tournament berth, await final seedings and the release of the tournament bracket at the conclusion of this weekend's regular-season matches.
