Courtesy of Geoff Exstrom of the Omaha Supernovas
OMAHA, Neb. — The Omaha Supernovas, the world’s leading professional volleyball franchise, delivered another historic crowd Sunday as 11,305 fans filled Kiewit Court at the CHI Health Center for the team’s Pink Out match, marking the franchise’s 19th crowd of 10,000 or more. Orlando (6-5) then spoiled the afternoon, taking down Omaha (7-5) in straight sets, 25-20, 25-17, 25-22.
Star outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller led Omaha’s offense with 11 kills and six digs. Norah TeBrake, seeing her first action since facing Orlando on Jan. 18 at home, came off the bench to add six kills, two blocks and three digs. Sarah Parsons secured three kills and two digs after starting the third set at opposite.
Middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo tallied four kills and accounted for two of Omaha’s seven blocks. Fellow middle Kiara Reinhardt finished with two kills, one block and her team-leading 12th ace of the season. Setter Sydney Hilley dished out 27 assists and tied for the team high with nine digs. She also brought the offense, racking up three kills in the opening set as well as an ace. Making her sixth career professional start, libero Allison Holder matched Hilley with nine digs.
As a team, the Supernovas hit .063 with seven blocks, two aces, 42 digs and 28 assists.
Three players finished in double figures to lead the Valkyries’ surge. Opposite Naya Shime paced Orlando with 16 points on 13 kills and three blocks. Middle blocker Kaz Brown anchored a dominant block with a match-high four stuffs while adding nine kills on a .412 hitting percentage. Hannah Maddux recorded 10 points on six kills, two blocks and two aces.
The Valkyries hit .255 with 13 blocks, three aces, 43 digs and 39 assists.
The Supernovas will take their first extended break of the season, receiving a week off before visiting the San Diego Mojo next Sunday, Feb. 22, at Viejas Arena. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CST. The match will air on Vice TV and can be heard worldwide on the Supernovas Radio Network.
Key Notes
- Sunday’s crowd of 11,305 marked the 12th-largest in U.S. professional volleyball history.
- The Supernovas now own 26 of the top 27 crowds in U.S. professional volleyball history, including the first 18.
- Brooke Nuneviller eclipsed 900 career kills in MLV, joining Leah Edmond as the only two players in league history to reach the milestone. With her 11 kills, she now stands at 901 in nearly two and a half seasons.
- Nuneviller also reached 250 career sets played with the Supernovas.
- Omaha’s .063 hitting percentage, 31 kills and 28 assists are tied for or represent new franchise lows.
- Sunday marked only the fourth time in team history the Supernovas have been swept at home. Orlando accounts for two of those four losses.
- The loss marks just the third time in franchise history Omaha has endured a multi-match losing streak.
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Set 1: The Valkyries opened with a Bre Kelley kill. Nuneviller responded with a back-row termination to tie the score. Hannah Maddux followed with back-to-back kills, including one off an overpass. Nuneviller answered again from the back row. A Supernovas net violation preceded a service ace and kill from Kaz Brown to extend the lead to 6-2. Hilley capitalized on a Valkyries service error and added a right-side kill, squeezing the attack between two blockers. Orlando added consecutive kills. Hilley responded with a right-side dump to make it 8-6. Nuneviller and Onabanjo recorded kills before the media timeout, but Orlando led 14-9. TeBrake and Beason entered after the stoppage, providing a spark. Onabanjo traded kills with Brown. Hilley collected her third kill of the set with a deep throw. Nuneviller continued to attack from the back row, cutting the deficit to 19-14. The Valkyries capitalized on hitting and service errors to build a 22-14 advantage. An Orlando service error led to kills from Nuneviller and Beason. Kelley added two more kills to reach set point at 24-18. Reinhardt delivered a service ace and kill to narrow the gap, but an antenna violation by TeBrake ended the set, 25-20, giving Orlando a 1-0 lead.
Omaha hit .079 in the opening set with two blocks and one ace. Nuneviller recorded seven of the team’s 13 kills. The Valkyries hit .312 with six blocks and two aces. Shime and Brown shared the team lead with four kills each.
Set 2: Back-to-back hitting errors gave Orlando the first two points. Nuneviller put Omaha on the board with a kill. The teams traded service errors before TeBrake delivered consecutive kills to give Omaha a 4-3 lead. Shime, Maddux and Brown sparked a three-point Orlando run. TeBrake answered with two more kills to tie the set at six. An Onabanjo attack sailed wide to give Orlando the edge. Shime and Maddux extended the lead to 9-6. Onabanjo and Nuneviller answered to make it 10-8. Two Supernovas errors prompted an Omaha timeout at 12-8. Orlando added a service error out of the timeout, but Shime’s kills kept the momentum at 14-10. Maddux, Brown and Shime combined for a four-point run to force another Omaha timeout at 18-10. The Supernovas responded with a Leao kill and a Valkyries hitting error. An Omaha service error and Shime kill pushed the lead to 20-13. Londot and Onabanjo recorded kills to narrow the gap to 23-15. Courtney Schwan delivered a left-side kill for set point. Nuneviller tooled the block and Londot added a block, but Kelley closed the set, 25-17.
Omaha hit .024 in the set with three blocks. Nuneviller and TeBrake led with three kills each. Orlando hit .243 with three blocks and one ace. Shime recorded five kills, while Brown and Maddux added three apiece.
Set 3: Hilley opened with Omaha’s second ace. A Supernovas setting error and a Maddux kill gave Orlando a 2-1 lead. TeBrake tied the set at two with a left-side kill. Parsons and Shime traded points before two Omaha hitting errors and an Onabanjo block fueled a 4-0 run for a 6-3 advantage. The Valkyries answered with a 3-0 run to tie the set at six. Kills from Kelley and Maddux kept the score tied at eight. Nuneviller and Onabanjo gave Omaha a 10-8 edge, but Kelley tied it again. Reinhardt’s attack sailed wide before TeBrake tied the score and Parsons gave Omaha the lead. TeBrake blocked Shime, and another Valkyries error capped a 4-0 run to force an Orlando timeout at 14-11. Kelley responded out of the break, but a service error and Reinhardt kill pushed Omaha ahead 16-12 at the media timeout. Another Orlando error extended the lead to five before the Valkyries rallied behind kills from Shime and Pukis. Brown’s block cut the lead to 17-15. Brown added two more kills to tie the set at 17. Reinhardt ended the run with a middle kill, but Orlando blocks built a 20-18 advantage. Parsons answered with a right-side kill. Another Valkyries error tied it at 20. Schwan and Kelley combined to spark a 3-0 run for match point. A service error gave Omaha life at 24-22, but Shime sealed the sweep with her 13th kill, 25-22.
Omaha hit .061 in the set with two blocks and Hilley’s ace. Parsons led the team with three kills in the set. Orlando hit .212 with four blocks as Shime and Kelley each recorded four kills.
