ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Mavericks closed out the penultimate week of the season with another victory as they downed St. Thomas 3-0 to sweep the season series and remain in first place in the Summit League.
Omaha is back at .500 for the first time this season at 12-12 and remains atop the standings at 11-3 in the conference. As for the Tommies, they fall to 6-19 overall and 2-12 in league play.
Set by Set: (25-23, 25-17, 25-12)
- Just like their first meeting this season, the Tommies gave Omaha some trouble early on as they took an early lead and held it for nearly the whole set. Backed by an incredible six-kill effort from McKenna Ruch, though, the Mavericks were able to come back from being down 21-17 to take their first lead of the set at 24-22, at which point Ruch completed the comeback with her seventh kill.
- Ruch continued to lead Omaha into the second set as the team quickly came out to a 10-5 lead. The offense poured it on throughout the set as Shayla McCormick and Rachel Fairbanks each picked up three more kills, while Kali Jurgensmeier led everyone in the second with five. Fairbanks, still riding high off her career performance two nights earlier, ended the set with another powerful shot from the right side.
- The Mavericks did not let up in the final set, scoring four in a row to start things off. With a couple of blocks from Emily Huss and seven Tommie attack errors, Omaha went on a huge tear to go up 18-6. In the end it was Brilee Wieseler who dealt the final blow as she came in for the first time today and promptly served the match-winning ace.
Inside the Box Score
Wieseler had not appeared in a match since September 8 vs. Creighton before coming in to make the final serve today.
Though her double-double streak comes to an end, Fairbanks still recorded 10 kills to extend her double-digit kill streak to six matches. Likewise, Ruch, who lead the team with 12 kills, now has four straight matches with at least 10 kills.
Up Next
The Mavericks are down to the final week of the regular season with just two matches left to play. They will open the week at Denver on Wednesday at 6 p.m., before returning home one last time for the regular season finale vs. SDSU. at noon
