MACOMB, IL - The Mavericks finished off their penultimate road series of the season with a flourish, as they triumphed over Western Illinois University in an incredibly efficient 3-0 sweep. With this win, Omaha officially wraps up October with a stunning 9-1 record in the month.

The Mavericks will hold fast at third place in the Summit League with a 15-8 overall record and a 10-3 conference mark. They are one of only three teams in the league to have reached double-digit conference wins. Meanwhile, the Leathernecks drop to 4-21 overall and 0-13 in league play.

Set by Set (25-14, 25-15, 25-10)

• From the get-go, Omaha's offense controlled the entire match. Starting with an opening kill from Rachel Fairbanks, the Mavericks quickly came out to an 11-5 lead with two kills each from Fairbanks, Marriah Buss, and McKenna Ruch. Later on, they would score seven unanswered to take an 18-7 lead, with Fairbanks and Mariah Murdie each getting a kill and a block, while Sami Clarkson scored an ace. Shayla McCormick would close out the set with back-to-back kills of her own.
• Fairbanks again kicked things off with a kill to open set two, as the Mavericks again established an overwhelming attack early and soon found themselves with another 11-5 lead. Buss led the way with three more kills during this run, followed by Ruch with two. Brynlee Arnold also had an impressive showing during the set, recording three kills, including the set winner. Once again, though, it was Clarkson who made history when she set up Murdie for the kill to not only make it 17-12, but also earned her 3985th career assist to move into fourth place on Omaha's all-time assists leader board.
• The Mavericks did not miss a beat heading into set three, taking advantage of six Leatherneck errors to take a 10-4 lead. In the middle of the set, Omaha would go on its second 7-0 scoring run of the day, with Clarkson coming up big with three consecutive aces in the run. This was the second time this season she's scored three service aces in a row, after doing so at Kansas City earlier in the month. From there, Omaha continued its efficient attack as Buss picked up two more kills, followed by an ace from Jaiden Centeno, before Fairbanks finished off Western Illinois with her 10th kill of the day.

Inside the Box Score

• The Mavericks had one of their most dominant matches of the year, besting the Leathernecks in kills (46-25), aces (6-2), blocks (4-3), assists (43-24), digs (52-39), and hitting percentage (.418-.063).
• Their 25-10 victory in set three is the largest total the Mavericks have won a set by this season.
• Omaha's .418 hitting percentage is their second highest of the season, trailing behind their .445 mark also set against Western Illinois back in September.
• Clarkson entered the week with 3937 assists, 14 away from tying fifth place on the all-time UNO leader board and 46 away from fourth. After picking up 34 assists to take fifth on Thursday, she easily added another 24 today to move into fourth all-time at 3995. She is now just over a hundred assists away from third place (4102) with five regular season matches to go.
• After picking up her first career kill on Thursday, Arnold added four more today, as well as recording her first career dig.
• Fairbanks reached double-digit kills for the first time this season with a team-leading 10. Her .471 hitting percentage (minimum 10 kills) is also the second highest of her career and the highest in her last three seasons.

Up Next
The Mavericks will be back in Baxter next week for two matches. First will be a 7 p.m. tilt vs. Kansas City on Thursday, followed by a match with Oral Roberts on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.