OMAHA, Neb. - The Mavericks secured at least a share of their second ever Summit League Regular Season Title today as they swept South Dakota State 3-0 in the regular season finale.
At 13-13 overall and 12-4 in the conference, Omaha is guaranteed at least a tie with Denver, Kansas City, and/or South Dakota for the best record in the Summit. The final seeding for the Summit League Tournament will have to come down to a tiebreaker between the teams, should any combination of the four end with the same league record by next week. The Jackrabbits are most likely to be the No. 6 seed in the Tournament at 9-18 on the season and 7-8 in the conference.
Today was also Senior Day for the Mavericks, with graduate student
Rachel Fairbanks the lone honoree in what was the final match of her career in Baxter Arena.
Set by Set: (25-21, 25-21, 25-9)
- Fairbanks got off to a hot start in her final home match, leading Omaha with four kills. Defensively, McKenna Ruch and Kali Jurgensmeier were solid up front, combining to block three shots. Down 14-12, the Mavericks road a 9-0 scoring run out of the timeout to take a seven-point lead en route to taking the first set of the day.
- Omaha again found itself trailing halfway through the set as SDSU went up 15-13. With five kills and another block between them in the set already, Ruch and Jurgensmeier managed to put the Mavericks up 18-17 with their fifth combined block followed by back-to-back kills. Shayla McCormick then tacked on two blocks of her own, before a pair of costly SDSU errors gave Omaha the win.
- The Mavericks finished off the regular season with arguably their most dominant set yet led by a strong performance from Fairbanks. Fueling a 7-0 scoring run with kill and a block to make it 8-2, Fairbanks would record three more kills and another block to make it 22-8. She recorded one last block alongside Ruch to get it to match point, with the latter completing the sweep with her 10th kill of the day.
Inside the Box Score
Entering the match with 190 kills on the season, Fairbanks recorded a team-high 11 today as she cleared 200 kills in a single season for the first time in her career. She previously reached the 200 digs mark for the first time earlier this year as well.
With 10 kills and a .529 attack percentage, Ruch secured her fifth match of the year with double-digit kills and an attack percentage above .500.
Up Next
With the regular season at an end and at least a share of the title in hand, the Mavericks will have a bye next week as the rest of the league finishes competition. By Wednesday night, the team will know its seeding for the Summit League Tournament which begins next Sunday.
