Grand Forks, N.D. - The Mavericks closed out their final road match of the season in dominant fashion as they swept the University of North Dakota 3-0 for the second time this year on Saturday afternoon
Omaha not only improves to 18-9 overall and 13-4 in the conference, but with North Dakota State losing to Denver, they retake second place in the Summit League with just one match to go. As for the Fighting Hawks, they remain the fifth seed at 12-15 and 9-7 in league play.
Set by Set: (25-20, 25-21, 25-23)
- Like many matches this season, Shayla McCormick got the day started with a kill right out of the gates. From there, both squads stayed neck and neck as they fought to a 14-14 tie halfway through the set. At that point, Omaha managed to break the stalemate with a 4-0 run that started with a kill from Kali Jurgensmeier and ended with back-to-back service aces from Olivia Curry. Finally, at set point with a 24-20 lead, Sami Clarkson set the ball for Marriah Buss who promptly closed things out with a strong kill. With this assist, Clarkson made history once again by moving into third on Omaha's all-time assists rankings with her 4103rd career assist.
- Omaha was quickly on the back foot in set two as UND came out to a 4-0 lead. Down 7-2, the Mavericks were able to get back in the set thanks to another 4-0 scoring run that saw Jaiden Centeno score an ace and Jurgensmeier pick up a kill and a block. Then, after the Fighting Hawks retook control of the set with a 14-10 lead, the Mavericks went on yet another 4-0 run featuring two more kills from Jurgensmeier to tie it up. After a couple more kills from McCormick and aces from Curry and Brilee Wieseler, the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead in the match.
- McCormick continued her hot streak into set three when she opened things up with a kill and a block. After this, the Mavericks never looked back as they held the lead for the entire set. Their lead later grew to nine points after scoring five unanswered on a couple UND errors and kills from McCormick, Jurgensmeier, and Rachel Fairbanks. While the Fighting Hawks did respond with six points in a row, it was not enough to overtake the Mavericks as they rode four kills from McKenna Ruch and one last service ace from Wieseler to victory.
Inside the Box Score
- The Mavericks had UND beat in every major category, holding the edge in kills (44-33), aces (10-6), blocks (5-3), assists (43-29), digs (42-39), and hitting percentage (.302-.158).
- Clarkson ended the day with 21 assists, though, she only needed eight to reach third all-time. In her career, she now has 4116 assists, just over 100 away from second place on the leader board (4223).
- McCormick once again picked up a double-double with team highs in kills (13) and digs (11). She now has 16 double-doubles on the season and is just 12 kills away from 400 for the year.
- Jurgensmeier posted her 13th double-digit kills match of the season with 11 total. Her .556 hitting percentage today is also the second highest of her career in a match with at least 10 kills.
- Wieseler set a new career-best with four aces today, giving her 15 on the year. Likewise, Curry had three aces, her most in a match since February 2, 2021, when she scored four. She also has 15 on the year now.
Up Next
The Mavericks will be back in Baxter Arena for their regular season finale next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. when they host Denver one last time.
