OMAHA, Neb. -- Omaha enters the second half of The Summit League season with a pair of matches at Purdue Fort Wayne and against North Dakota State Friday, Oct. 19 and Sunday, Oct. 21.
Follow The Mavericks
Both matches are free to watch and links to live stream, live stats, audio and radio can be found on OMavs.com. Harrison Popp and DK Kellum will be on the call on MavRadio for Sunday's.
Everyone For Omaha
Fans are encouraged to connect with the Mavericks on Facebook (OmahaVB), Instagram (@omahavb) and on Twitter (@OmahaVB). Maverick fans can also used the hashtag #EveryoneForOmaha when connecting with the team on social media posts.
Opening Serve
• Omaha enters the weekend coming off a five-set loss to Denver, the league's leader.
• The Mavericks defeated both Purdue Fort Wayne and North Dakota State in five sets earlier this season.
• The match at Purdue Fort Wayne is scheduled to be featured on the NCAA Volleyball Facebook page.
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Sydney Case leads the league with 11.21 assists per set, while the team ranks third in kills per set (13.42) and second in total assists (408).
• Entering the week,
Sydney Case earned her third Summit League Offensive Player of the Week honor and now has three straight double-doubles in assists and digs.
• She went up to as high as ninth nationally with 11.53 assists per set entering the week.
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Sadie Limback leads the team with 2.74 kills per set, followed by
Isabella Sade with 2.66 per set.
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Anna Blaschko has a team-leading 1.01 blocks per set, while
Claire Mountjoy ranks fifth in the league with 3.92 digs per set at libero.
• In the last meeting against Purdue Fort Wayne,
Claire Leonard had a career-high 20 kills, which marks the only time this season that a Maverick player has posted 20 or more kills.
• In the last meeting against North Dakota State,
Rose Shires picked up her 500th career win as a head coach in Fargo.
Scouting the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons
After starting the season 2-0, Purdue Fort Wayne has lost five of its last six in-league matches. The team recently defeated South Dakota State on the road, 3-0.
Purdue Fort Wayne is led by Nicole Rightnowar who posts a league-high 328 total kills and ranks second with 3.90 kills per set. The Mastodons have played four five-set matches this season and are 1-3 in those contests.
In the last meeting against Omaha, the Mastodons fell 3-2 as
Claire Leonard posted a career-high 20 kills. That match also marked the only time this season a Maverick has had 20 or more kills.
Purdue Fort Wayne's Katie Crowe had 21 kills and 12 digs, while Nicole Rightnowar had 17 kills and 17 digs. Madison Jaqua was the third player who had a double-double in that match with 48 assists and 13 digs.
Omaha trails the all-time series 10-5 to the Mastodons.
Scouting the North Dakota State Bison
North Dakota State is 5-14 overall with a 3-5 mark in league play. The Bison currently sit tied for sixth in the league standings with Purdue Fort Wayne.
In the previous meeting with Omaha, the Bison overcame a two-set deficit to force a fifth, but ultimately fell 3-2 to the Mavericks. In that match, Omaha's
Sydney Case had a career-high 65 assists while
Claire Leonard had a then-career-high 18 kills.
Sadie Limback had a double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs.
The Bison have a meeting at Denver prior to their matchup with Omaha, and currently have three league wins over South Dakota State (3-0), Western Illinois (3-1) and Purdue Fort Wayne (3-1). They have losses to South Dakota (3-2), Omaha (3-2), North Dakota (3-2), Denver (3-1) and North Dakota (3-1).
Omaha leads the all-time series 44-42 over the Bison.
Looking Ahead
Omaha has a pair of road matches at North Dakota on Friday, Oct. 26 and at Denver on Sunday, Oct. 28. For information on live stats, streaming and tickets, visit OMavs.com.
