OMAHA, Neb. - The Mavericks continued their winning ways in Thursday night's Pink Out at Baxter Arena as they kicked off Redemption Week by taking down South Dakota State University 3-1, evening out the season series while also giving them their eighth consecutive win. Not only has Omaha now won 24 of its last 26 sets, dating all the way back to September 29, but its eight straight wins now tie the team with the 2015 squad for the second longest winning streak in the program's Division I era.

UNO remains in second place in the Summit League at 13-7 overall and 8-2 in the conference. They now trail the University of South Dakota (19-2, 8-1) by just half a game ahead of their showdown later this week. As for the Jackrabbits, they fall below .500 for the first time this year as they leave Omaha at 10-11 overall and 4-5 in conference play.

Set by Set (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23)

• Set one was a razor thin affair for both teams as neither one allowed the other to build a strong lead until the very end. Omaha pulled ahead slightly at 11-9 thanks in part to an impressive start from Mariah Murdie who scored two kills and a block. The Jackrabbits would tie the set up several times over the next few points, keeping things deadlocked at 16-16. Luckily, after a pair of kills from McKenna Ruch and Shayla McCormick, the Mavericks were finally able to take the lead and hold it, as Murdie and Rachel Fairbanks followed up with a couple of huge blocks before Marriah Buss closed out the set with her fourth kill of the day.
• South Dakota State gave Omaha some serious trouble to open set two, taking a 6-0 lead right out of the gate. The Mavericks, however, responded with their own 6-0 scoring run, featuring three kills from Buss, to tie the set. Buss would then pick up three more kills to give Omaha its first lead at 10-7. Though SDSU retook the lead shortly after, the Mavericks never let them out of their sights as McCormick notched four more kills and a service ace to put Omaha back out front at 20-17. Fairbanks, along with Ruch and Murdie, would finish off the Jackrabbits with back-to-back blocks.
• Set three was another back-and-forth toss-up between both teams. Halfway through, things remained tied at 13-13, with Kali Jurgensmeier, McCormick, and Ruch all adding two more kills in the half, while Murdie blocked two more shots. Despite this, Omaha eventually found itself trailing 20-23. Though they managed to tie up the set at 23-23 with a kill from Ruch and a couple of SDSU errors, the Jackrabbits would end the Mavericks' hopes for a sweep with two more kills to claim set three.
• Set four proved to be just as competitive as the first three, with both teams again finding themselves tied at 13-13 halfway through. Murdie remained dominant during this stretch, blocking another two shots back-to-back along with recording another kill. Buss also continued to impress as she scored three more kills in the half. From there, the lead would change 10 more times, before Omaha ended up trailing 22-23. At that moment, however, everything finally came together at the perfect time for the Mavericks, as they tied the set on a Jurgensmeier kill, before taking the lead after an ace from Olivia Curry, and finally sealed victory on one last Jackrabbit error.

Inside the Box Score

• Just like in previous matches during the streak, the Mavericks led the opposition in almost every category, coming out on top in kills (60-53), aces (6-3), blocks (11-7), assists (58-48), digs (75-65), and hitting percentage (.200-.184).
• McCormick did it all today, leading the team with 19 kills and finishing second in digs with 16. This gives her 11 double-doubles on the season. She also recorded three blocks and an ace.
• Buss also had a great day on offense, racking up 16 kills to give her 11 matches this season with double-digit kills.
• Jurgensmeier continued her torrid pace as she picked up her fourth consecutive match with at least 10 kills (11) and her ninth such match of the year.
• In her second career start, Murdie had her best match yet, setting career highs in kills (5), digs (4), and blocks (8). Her eight total blocks were also the most of any player in tonight's match.

Up Next
The Mavericks will close out Redemption Week with another crucial rematch this Saturday at 3 p.m., when they look to get even with reigning Summit League champion South Dakota in a battle for first place in the conference.