OMAHA, Neb - Following back-to-back wins against St. Thomas and Western Illinois on the road last week, the Mavericks will have their penultimate home stand of the season this week when they host Kansas City on Thursday, followed by Oral Roberts on Saturday at Baxter Arena.

Weekend Slate

• Thursday, November 3, vs. Kansas City (7-18, 4-8) at 7 p.m.
• Saturday, November 5, vs. Oral Roberts (7-17, 4-8) at 12:30 p.m.

Quick Hits

• The Mavericks won two matches last week against St. Thomas and Western Illinois, improving to 15-8 overall and 10-3 in the Summit League. At third place in the league, they trail only South Dakota (21-2, 10-1) and North Dakota State (17-7, 10-2), though, they have played more conference matches than both of them.
• Sami Clarkson continued her climb up UNO's all-time assists leader board with 3995 after picking up 34 assists against St. Thomas to take fifth place and 24 against Western Illinois for fourth.
• Marriah Buss led the team with 26 kills last week, giving her 291 on the season and putting her in seventh on the Summit League kills leader board. 
• Shayla McCormick added another 21 kills to her stat sheet as she enters this week at third in the league with 332. She also remains third in total points with 386.5 and fourth in service aces at 29.
• McKenna Ruch (.487) and Rachel Fairbanks (.414) both put up hitting percentages above .400 last week with 21 and 15 kills each. Ruch also blocked four shots for a new total of 118 total blocks, the second most in the league.
• Freshman Brynlee Arnold saw her first action of the season last week, notching her first career kill against St. Thomas, before adding four more along with a dig against Western Illinois.  

Scouting Kansas City
The Roos enter the week at 7-18 overall and 4-8 in the conference. Despite being in 8th place, they remain just half a game back of SDSU for the sixth and final playoff spot. In their last meeting with the Mavericks, Omaha came out on top in a 3-0 sweep in Kansas City back on October 8.

Junior Odyssey Warren is Kansas City's leading attacker with 306 kills, 3.33 kills/set, and 20 service aces, as well as 229 digs adn 46 total blocks on defense. Her 306 kills are the sixth most in the Summit League. Against the Mavericks this year, she put up eight kills and four total blocks. Freshman Kimora Whetstone is Kansas City's top blocker with 80 total blocks, while also having 128 kills and 15 aces. She had seven total blocks, two aces, and three kills against Omaha earlier this year. Freshman Sydney Henry leads the Roos with 483 assists and 5.03 assists per set, as well as being tied for the most aces with 20. She had 10 assists and an ace vs. the Mavericks this season.

Series History
Omaha managed to tie the all-time series between the two schools at 9-9-1 earlier this season with their 3-0 sweep in Kansas City. Since both teams joined the Summit League, the Mavericks hold a slight edge at 3-2. 

Scouting Oral Roberts
The Golden Eagles are in the same boat as the Roos, entering the week at 7-18 with a 4-8 conference record and just half a game out of a playoff spot. They were also swept by the Mavericks earlier this season at home on October 6. Before coming to Omaha, they will stop in Denver for a match on Thursday.

Junior Kaia Dunford is arguably ORU's most versatile player, leading the team with 291 digs while being second with 277 kills and 2.78 kills/set and fourth in total blocks with 32. She led the team with 11 kills along with six digs and a block vs. Omaha back in October. Senior Sakira LaCour leads ORU with 114 total blocks, the fourth most in the Summit League. She also has 192 kills and 16 service aces. She put up three blocks and seven kills against the Mavericks this year. Sophomore Trinity Freeman is the Golden Eagles leading attacker with 277 kills and 3.01 kills per set, the former being the 10th most in the Summit. She's also second on the team with 54 total blocks. Against Omaha this season, she recorded seven kills and three total blocks.

Series History
The Mavericks are 14-9 against the Golden Eagles, winning the last seven meetings between them, including a 3-1 win in the semifinals of last year's Summit League tournament.