DENVER, Colo. — The No. 3 seeded Omaha volleyball fell 3-1 to No. 6 seed North Dakota State in the opening round of The Summit League Championship Friday evening.
The Mavericks fell 25-23, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21 in four sets to the Bison and end the season at 17-12 overall.
Leaders for Omaha
Sadie Limback recorded a team-high 15 kills to go with eight digs and five blocks.
Claire Leonard followed with 13 kills, while
Abby Bergsten had 10.
Inside Set 1
Neither team could pull ahead until back-to-back points by
Anna Blaschko off a kill and a block assist with Case gave the Mavericks a 16-13 lead in the set. From there, a 5-0 run by Omaha forced an NDSU timeout with a 21-15 lead. The Bison came back to pull to within one (22-21), but the Mavericks held on and took the set off a Limback kill.
Inside Set 2
Down early on the second set,
Rylee Marshall recorded her first-career kill and tied the score at 9-all. Omaha trailed by as many as three, but came back to tie the match at 20-20. Despite the valiant effort, NDSU edged out a 25-23 win in the second set to tie the match.
Inside Set 3
North Dakota State jumped out to an early 9-5 lead, but Blachko helped the Mavericks tie the score at 12-all when she recorded another block and a kill. Omaha fell into a three-point deficit, but eventually came back and tied the match at 23-all. The Bison, however, were able to gut out a 26-24 set victory off an Omaha attack error and a kill.
Inside Set 4
Momentum was on the Bison's side, as they sparked a 5-1 lead to open the set. Omaha slowly clawed its way back into the contest and was within two (15-13) after a kill by Leonard. The Bison, however, were able to increase their lead at 20-15. From there, Omaha put forth a valiant effort late in the match, but the gap was too big to overcome as the Bison won the match off a 25-21 fourth set victory.
Notes:
- Omaha falls in the first round to NDSU for the second straight season.
- The Mavericks recorded 54 kills to NDSU's 50.
- The Mavericks recorded more blocks (10-7) and assists (51-45) than the Bison.
- Omaha is 2-3 in Summit League Championship play.
- The Mavericks finished the season at 17-12, which marks the second-best record in program history in the Division I era.
