DENVER, Colo. - The Mavericks dropped a close one in their final road match of the season on Wednesday as they were topped 3-2 by Denver.

Omaha is now 12-13 on the season and 11-3 in the conference. While they will remain in first place in the standings for the time being, even with a win vs. South Dakota State on Saturday they will not know if they can claim the Regular Season Title until the rest of the teams finish the rest of their matches next week. This includes the second-place Pioneers who are now 12-11 overall and 11-4 in league play.
 
Set by Set: (17-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17, 10-15)

• The Mavericks could not get into a solid rhythm in set one as the Pioneers responded to the opening service ace from Shayla McCormick by taking the lead and holding it. McCormick would go on to record three kills, while Emily Huss, fresh off her second defensive player of the week honor, got her first block and two kills.
• Following a block from Huss to open the set, Denver again came right back and took the lead. Three clutch kills from Amanda Hardt kept the Pioneers from running away with this one, though, as the Mavericks later pulled ahead 14-13 on a kill from McCormick. However, tied at 15-15, Denver scored nine of the next 12 to make it 24-18. Three Pioneer errors did give Omaha some late life, but not enough to fully come back.
• An ace and a kill from Ruch quickly put Omaha up 4-1. After the Pioneers fought back to tie it 9-9, three straight points capped off by a solo block from Huss put Omaha back in front. While Denver would continue to pick away at the lead, multiple timely kills and blocks from Ruch held them off, allowing Huss and Hardt to earn the win with Omaha's seventh block of the set.
• Ruch and Hardt came out strong in set four as each scored two kills and combined for back-to-back blocks to make it 10-4. Huss would get two more blocks in the set too, while Kenedy Schaecher scored three service aces to give Omaha a huge 22-11 lead. This paved the way for Ruch to win it with her fifth kill of the set.
• Denver stifled Omaha's second-half momentum by coming out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth and later going up 10-4. While two kills from Rachel Fairbanks along with the seventh block of the evening for Ruch did cut the deficit to three, it was too late as the Pioneers just managed to stave off the reverse sweep.

Inside the Box Score
This marks the second time this season that at least four players had at least five total blocks, with Huss leading the way with eight, followed by Ruch with seven and McCormick and Hardt with five each.

Hardt also set a new season-best with her .476 attack percentage to go along with her 10 kills.

With 12 kills on the night, Ruch officially topped 800 in her career. Meanwhile, McCormick's 15 kills and six digs now put her at 890 career kills and 892 career digs.

Up Next
Only one match remains in the regular season as Omaha will hope to better their odds of a second Summit League Regular Season Title on Saturday when they host South Dakota State at noon.