Columbia, S.C. - In what may go down as the most thrilling match of the season, the Mavericks managed to hold off a persistent attack from Sacred Heart University to secure a 3-2 victory to close out the Carolina Classic on Saturday afternoon.

With their road trip finished, Omaha will head home with a 2-1 record to start the 2022 season.

Set By Set (25-11, 26-24, 25-27, 20-25, 15-13)

• The Mavericks got out to an early lead in set one and never looked back. Sami Clarkson set the tone early with a service ace to open up the match. Jaiden Centeno would score the second ace of the day for Omaha during a four-point run later on, before Kali Jurgensmeier capped of an 8-0 run with an ace of her own to close out the set.
• Omaha maintained a comfortable lead for most of set two. Jurgensmeier and Shayla McCormick racked up four kills each while Clarkson had 13 assists. With the Mavericks leading with match point (24-20), the Pioneers staged a late comeback attempt to tie things up at 24-24. Fortunately, Marriah Buss managed to swing momentum back in Omaha's favor with a kill, followed by a Sacred Heart attack error to give the Mavericks the set.
• Set three started very differently for the Mavericks as they quickly found themselves in a 5-0 hole. After trailing the entire first half of the set, though, McKenna Ruch tied it up at 17-17 with a crucial block. What followed was an intense back-and-forth that saw an incredible 16 lead changes. During this span, Ruch notched three more kills to keep the Mavericks within striking distance. With Omaha up 25-24, however, the Pioneers blocked a shot from McCormick and followed up with back-to-back kills to win their first set of the day.
• Reaching set four for the first time this season, Omaha started off by taking advantage of five Sacred Heart service errors to keep the score even at 10-10. During this chaotic stretch there were another 14 lead changes. The Pioneers began to pull away in the back half of the set, eventually taking a 20-14 lead. Omaha put up a strong effort to get back into it, led by Buss with a pair of kills, but it was too late as Sacred Heart took their second set in a row.
• Omaha came out swinging in the fifth set, coming out to a 6-3 lead thanks to kills from McCormick, Buss, and Jurgensmeier. The Pioneers briefly took the lead in the middle of the set after a 3-0 run to make it 7-9, but the Mavericks immediately responded with four points in a row to retake the lead for good. Thanks to a service error and an attack error from Sacred Heart, Omaha held on to narrowly win the fifth and final set.

Inside the Box Score

• McCormick recorded the first double-double of the season for Omaha after picking up a match-leading 20 kills along with 15 digs.
• Buss was second on the team with a season-high 14 kills, while Jurgensmeier continued to impress in her rookie season as she put up 11 kills and five blocks.
• Centeno led the Mavericks with 20 digs, while Clarkson was tops in the match with 48 assists.
• Ruch more than doubled her total number of blocks this season with a career-high 12 on the day.  She is already more than a third of the way to her 2021 total of 59 blocks.

Up Next
The Mavericks return home to host the MH Hospitality Omaha Challenge from September 1-3 in Baxter Arena. Omaha will first take on Wichita State University at 12 p.m. on Thursday, September 1, before closing out the series with a match against University of Northern Colorado at 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 3.