This Weekend
The Omaha volleyball team makes its first Summit League road swing this weekend, visiting Western Illinois and Fort Wayne. The Mavericks face the Leathernecks on Friday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m., followed by a Noon CT match against the Mastodons on Sunday, Oct. 1. Live stats, audio and video, as available, will be linked on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
•Omaha secured its first home win and its first sweep of the year with a 3-0 victory over South Dakota State last Friday. It marked the Mavericks' first sweep since Nov. 20, 2015.
•The victory was also Omaha's second conference-opening win since joining the Summit League in 2012.
•Junior
Abby Bergsten's .565 attack percentage against SDSU was the second-highest of any Maverick this season.
•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 63 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 1,023-603-7.
Scouting the Western Illinois Leathernecks
Western Illinois enters the week with a record of 5-11 (0-2 Summit League) after a 3-1 loss at Oral Roberts last Sunday and looks to snap a six-match losing streak. Emma Norris leads the Leathernecks with 2.70 kills per set, while Mackenzie Steckler and Emilee Dechant have a team-high 1.00 blocks per set. Claire Grove has 4.27 digs per set, which ranks fourth in the league behind Omaha's
Claire Mountjoy (4.47 d/s).
Head coach Kelly Richardson is in her third season at WIU with a record of 12-67 and a career mark of 88-158.
Omaha leads the all-time series with WIU, 6-4. Their last meeting came Nov. 13, 2016 in Macomb, Ill., where the Mavericks won 3-2.
Scouting the Fort Wayne Mastodons
Fort Wayne enters the week with a record of 8-9 (0-2 Summit League) after a 3-2 loss at Denver last Sunday and looks to snap a three-match losing skid. Nicole Rightnowar leads the Mastodons with 3.33 kills per set, and Madison Jaqua's 9.50 assists per set are fourth in the league.
Head coach Steve Florio is in his fourth season at Fort Wayne and totes a career record of 41-72.
Fort Wayne leads the all-time series with Omaha, 10-1. Their last meeting came Oct. 23, 2016 in Fort Wayne, Ind., where the Mastodons won 3-1.
Last Time Out: Omaha Sweeps Jackrabbits to Open Summit League Play
Omaha secured its first sweep of the season to open Summit League play last Friday, defeating South Dakota State 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-15) at Baxter Arena.
Junior
Abby Bergsten led the Mavericks with a season-high-tying 15 kills on a season-best .565 hitting efficiency. Junior
Mackenzie Horkey recorded her fifth double-double of the year with 12 kills and 12 digs alongside two blocks.
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy put up a match-high 36 assists with nine digs and three aces, and freshman
Claire Mountjoy tallied a match-high 14 scoops and two aces. Freshman
Bella Sade paced the Mavericks at the net with five blocks.
Omaha outhit SDSU .289 to .051 and outblocked the Jacks 7-3. SDSU's team hitting percentage was the lowest of any Maverick opponent in 2017.
Sydney's Smashing Milestones
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy is making her mark in the record books, as she has 3,687 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 last weekend, as she is now 17th 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 2.60 kills per set with seven double-figure kill efforts and fifth 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.
Sade has a team-leading 0.98 blocks per set and is fourth on the team with 2.35 kills per set while hitting .265. Her 19 kills vs. SEMO on Sept. 9 were the second-highest total of any Maverick this season, while her seven blocks were also the second-highest single-match mark by a UNO player.
Blaschko has averaged 2.12 kills per set with a team-high .328 hitting efficiency and is second on the team with 0.86 blocks per set. Entering this weekend, she is the Summit League leader in solo blocks (15).
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 have never faced three of their opponents: New Mexico, Kent State and Montana. UNO holds a combined all-time record of 190-174 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 487-375 (.565), 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 returns to action on Tuesday, Oct. 3, hosting Denver at 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
