OMAHA, Neb. - As the reigning Summit League Regular Season Champions and postseason runner-up, the Mavericks had high hopes heading into the 2022 season. Now, after nearly three months of competition, it all comes down to today as No. 2 Omaha will face off with No. 1 South Dakota one last time this year in a rematch of last year's Summit League Championship Finals, right here at 2 p.m. in Baxter Arena. 

Quick Hits 

• Omaha finished the regular season at 19-9 with a 14-4 record in the conference, trailing only South Dakota (27-3, 16-2) in the standings.
• Last night, the Mavericks took down North Dakota State 3-1 in a classic come from behind victory in the semifinals round. 
• Head Coach Matt Buttermore earned his 250th career win last night, 72 of which have come with Omaha.
• Shayla McCormick earned her 18th double-double of the season against NDSU after leading the team with 12 kills and 17 digs.
• Olivia Curry, who had the match-winning service ace was one dig away from a double-double as she also racked up 19 assists.
• Sami Clarkson passed 1000 assists on the season with 26 more last night, giving her a new total of 1017.
• On Wednesday, the league announced its regular season awards, with five Mavericks being among the honorees.  
• Kali Jurgensmeier took home Freshman of the Year and made the All-Freshman team after an incredible rookie season. She started 27 out of 28 matches for Omaha and made the top 25 in the league and led all freshmen in hitting percentage (.280), kills (246), kills/set (2.39), blocks (67), blocks/set (0.65), and total points (289.5). In the regular season finale, she tied her season-best with 13 kills. She is the third Maverick ever to win Summit League Freshman of the Year. 
• McCormick and McKenna Ruch earned First Team All-Summit honors. McCormick finished third in the league with 3.79 kills/set and fifth with 402 kills, as well as third in service aces (40), fourth in aces/set (0.38), and third in total points (473). She earned her 17th double-double of the season against Denver. As for Ruch, her 132 blocks were the third most in the league, while her 1.25 blocks/set were the second most. She also finished third in hitting percentage with a .361 mark. 
• Clarkson and Marriah Buss earned All-Summit Honorable Mentions. Clarkson had 991 assists in the regular season, which propelled her into third place in Omaha's all-time assists rankings with 4146 in her career. Buss was seventh in the league with 343 kills and 343 kills/set, including the most any Maverick had in a single match this season with 24 vs. Northern Colorado. 
• In addition to Clarkson, both Jaiden Centeno and Mariah Murdie played the final regular season match of their careers against Denver on Senior Day. Centeno finished the regular season with the fourth most digs in the league with 402, while Murdie had 51 total blocks and 44 kills in her first collegiate volleyball season after switching following four years on the women's basketball team. 
• The Mavericks are 6-6 all-time in Summit League postseason play. 

Scouting the Coyotes 
The Coyotes entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed after securing a 27-3 overall record and a 16-2 conference mark. They defeated Omaha in both regular season matches this year, first winning 3-2 in South Dakota in the Summit League opener on September 22, before winning 3-1 in Baxter Arena on October 22. The Coyotes made it to the championship after defeating Denver 3-0 in the semifinals on Friday. 

Junior Elizabeth Juhnke was named the Summit League Player of the Year on Wednesday after leading all of NCAA Division I with 634 kills and finishing second in kill/set with 5.42. Against Denver on Friday, she led the team with 15 kills. In two games facing the Mavericks this season, Juhnke earned double-doubles in both, racking up 54 kills and 26 digs in total. 

Fifth year Lolo Weideman was named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year after finishing with a league-high 544 digs and 4.65 digs/set. On Friday she had a team-high 13 digs. Against Omaha this year, Weideman recorded 19 digs in both matches. 

Like Juhnke and Weideman, junior Madison Harms earned First Team All-Summit honors after finishing fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.356) and second in total blocks (145). She had five kills and four total blocks against Denver. Harms has 18 kills and 13 total blocks against the Mavericks this season. 

Series History 
Omaha owns the all-time series lead at 61-25. South Dakota has won the last three matches in the series, including the championship match last year. The Mavericks' last win against the Coyotes came last November when they won 3-1 in South Dakota. 

In the postseason, the teams are 1-1, with Omaha winning their first meeting 3-1 in the 2019 Summit League Semifinals.