OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha volleyball team met in-state foe Nebraska for the first time since 1990 Saturday night, falling 3-0 (24-26, 15-25, 13-25) in the finale of the Omaha Challenge in front of 5,351 fans at Baxter Arena. The Mavericks are now 3-10 after completing the non-conference portion of their schedule, while the 10th-ranked Huskers improve to 7-3.
Leaders for Omaha
Junior
Mackenzie Horkey was named to the all-tournament team and led the Mavericks with nine kills in addition to six digs and a block. Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy finished just shy of a double-double with 23 assists and a team-leading nine digs, as well as four kills, one block and an ace.
Freshman
Bella Sade had a solid night at the net, posting a match-high four blocks. Sophomore
Meagen Roth added two more stops with seven kills and eight digs.
Leaders for Nebraska
Nebraska was led by Annika Albrecht's 15 kills on .375 hitting with eight digs, two blocks and an ace. Kelly Hunter added 37 assists and nine digs, and Lauren Stivrins chipped in four blocks and seven kills for the night.
Team Stats
The Huskers hit .327 to Omaha's .118, and the two teams were even at the net with six blocks apiece.
Inside Set 1
Omaha came out with fire, grabbing a 5-1 edge after four Husker errors and an O'Shaughnessy kill early in the first set. After NU equalized it with a kill by Jazz Sweet at 5-5, Omaha took the lead again and worked to a 15-11 advantage by the media timeout. Sade lifted the Mavericks out of the break with a key solo block, and the Mavericks assumed their largest lead of the set at 17-12 on a kill by Roth.
NU got back-to-back kills from Albrecht, followed by a Stivrins/Albrecht block to cut it to 18-17 and force an Omaha timeout. The Mavericks' lead held until NU tied it at 19-19, and after another stall at 20-20, Omaha shot ahead once more with a Horkey kill and an O'Shaughnessy ace. Following a Husker timeout, a setting error made it 23-21 in favor of Omaha, but the Huskers knotted it once more at 23-all on a pair of Maverick attacking miscues. After another timeout, Roth stepped up with another kill to push Omaha to set point at 24-23, but NU finished the set with three straight scores to win it 26-24.
Inside Set 2
Omaha and Nebraska traded points early in the second set, but back-to-back kills from Mikaela Foecke and Briana Holman sparked the Huskers, who never allowed the Mavericks back in. NU built its largest lead at 20-10 and ultimately took the game, 25-15.
Inside Set 3
NU led nearly the entire third set, pushing past a 1-1 tie with a 4-0 spurt. Omaha took its first timeout of the set at 13-8, and the Huskers went on a 5-1 roll from there to lead 19-8 by the next break. Led by six kills from Albrecht, NU hit .500 in the set and won it 25-13 to seal the match at 3-0.
Noting the Omaha Challenge
-Nebraska, UNI and K-State finished the Omaha Challenge with identical 2-1 records, but NU won the tournament by a tiebreaker as the only team to have defeated the other common opponent, UNO, in three sets.
Up Next
Omaha opens Summit League play on Friday, Sept. 22, welcoming South Dakota State to Baxter Arena at 7 p.m. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
