DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Omaha volleyball team opened its weekend at the Drake Invitational Thursday evening, falling 3-2 (25-11, 25-16, 21-25, 17-25, 13-15) to host DU at the Knapp Center. The Mavericks are now 2-5 (0-0 Summit League) on the season, while the Bulldogs improve to 6-2 (0-0 MVC).
Leaders for Omaha
Freshman
Bella Sade hit a season-best .484 for the night en route to a match-high 18 kills with six blocks and five digs. Junior
Mackenzie Horkey put together a double-double effort with 12 kills and 17 digs alongside a pair of blocks, and freshman
Anna Blaschko matched her with 12 more kills while attacking at a .304 clip and posting a match-high and season-best eight stops at the net.
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy finished with a match-leading 52 assists along with eight digs, four blocks, four kills and an ace. Freshman
Claire Mountjoy led the Mavericks defensively with a season-high 21 digs, and sophomore
Gessica Gdowski made her first match appearance since 2015 and scooped a career-high 20 digs while striking DU for a career-high-tying three aces.
Leaders for Drake
Drake was led by double-doubles from Kyla Inderski (18 kills/15 digs) and Cathryn Cheek (12 kills/22 digs).
Team Stats
Omaha hit .214 to Drake's .149. The Mavericks also outblocked the Bulldogs 14-7, which marked a season high and was their second double-digit team blocking performance of the season.
Inside Set 1
The Mavericks came out swinging in the opening set, hitting .483 as a team while holding DU to a -.071 showing. They built a quick 10-2 lead helped by three early kills from Horkey, then held the Bulldogs at bay by at least seven for the remainder of the game. Omaha took the first set, 25-11.
Inside Set 2
An 8-8 lock was broken with a 6-0 Maverick run in the second set, with kills from Blaschko, sophomores
Meagen Roth and
Chloe Dousette, a DU setting error and an O'Shaughnessy/Blaschko block. After that, the Mavericks assumed a 10-point lead at 22-12 on a Sade kill and an O'Shaughnessy ace, then finished it off at 25-16 to lead the match, 2-0.
Inside Set 3
While the Mavericks registered seven blocks over the first two frames, Drake was blockless until the third set. With the score tied at 16-16, the Bulldogs rallied to grab the lead with three straight scores. Though Omaha pulled within one at 21-20 on back-to-back kills from Horkey and Sade, DU took the set 25-21 and made it a 2-1 match.
Inside Set 4
In the fourth set, Drake hit .229 as a team and relied on six kills from Inderski. The Mavericks trailed nearly the entire game, as DU broke a 2-2 tie with an 8-0 run and later created Omaha's largest deficit at 21-10. The Mavericks dropped the fourth set, 25-17, which tied the match at two games apiece.
Inside Set 5
In the deciding fifth game, Omaha found itself in a 4-4 tie after consecutive kills by Sade were answered with an Inderski kill. Later, facing match point at 14-11, a DU service error and a Sade kill brought the Mavericks within one at 14-13, but the Bulldogs used a timeout and forced an Omaha attack error to seal the set at 15-13 and the match at 3-2.
Noting Tonight's Match
-Tonight marked the Mavericks' third straight MVC opponent, as they faced Indiana State twice last weekend before taking on DU.
-O'Shaughnessy has had back-to-back 50+ assist performances in the last week.
Up Next
Omaha plays two matches at the Drake Invitational on Friday, Sept. 8, facing San Jose State at 1 p.m. and Montana at 5 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa. Links to live stats will be available on OMavs.com.
