Courtesy of Geoff Exstrom of the Omaha Supernovas
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Omaha Supernovas, the world’s leading professional volleyball franchise, received the fourth double-double of the season from outside hitter Sarah Parsons, but her showing wasn’t enough as Omaha (7-9) dropped a four-set contest, 25-17, 27-29, 25-22, 25-14, to the Grand Rapids Rise (5-9) on Saturday night at Van Andel Arena in front of 3,708.
Parsons tallied a match-high 15 kills and played a key role defensively for Omaha with a season-high 19 digs. Fellow outside hitter Reagan Cooper added 14 points on 12 kills and two blocks that came up clutch in the Supernovas’ thrilling second-set win. Opposite Emily Londot recorded nine kills on the night with seven digs and the team’s lone ace. Brooke Nuneviller added a pair of kills in limited action, while Merritt Beason posted one kill, one dig and one assist as part of the double sub.
Middle blocker Kiara Reinhardt terminated on six of her 21 swings while adding three digs, one block and one assist. Toyosi Onabanjo matched her teammate with six kills of her own while digging two balls.
Setter Brooke Mosher made her first career professional start, finishing the night with 34 assists and four digs while adding three kills. Sydney Hilley handed out 12 assists and notched seven digs as part of the double sub with Beason. Elena Oglivie played like the best libero on Saturday, earning a team-high 21 digs while passing over 60% positive rate.
The Supernovas hit .158 in the match with three blocks, one ace, 52 assists, 56 kills and 77 digs.
Grand Rapids was led by a quartet of double-figure point scorers, including a team-high 17 from the outside hitter duo of Carli Snyder and former Supernova Paige Briggs-Romine. Snyder hit .310 with 13 kills, 14 digs, two blocks and two aces. Briggs-Romine eclipsed her teammate with 14 kills and three blocks while collecting 11 digs. Opposite Elizabet Inneh compiled 14 kills (.355) and 16 digs. The Rise delivered a .301 team hitting percentage along with three aces, 15 blocks, 57 kills, 54 assists and 79 digs.
The Supernovas wrap up their three-game road stretch by visiting the last-place Columbus Fury (3-11) on Tuesday night. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CDT on the Roku Sports Channeland the Supernovas Radio Network.
Key Notes
- Elena Oglivie’s 21-dig performance marked a new season high for the Stanford graduate.
- Brooke Mosher made her first career start on Saturday, marking the first time in franchise history a rookie setter started for Omaha.
- Reagan Cooper’s 12 kills marked her ninth double-digit kill performance of the season.
- Saturday marked the first time since May 12, 2024, that the Rise defeated the Supernovas, ending Omaha’s six-match win streak.
- Omaha’s three blocks tied the franchise low for a match, which was set earlier this season in the Supernovas’ 3-1 win at Dallas on Feb. 5.
Set 1: The Grand Rapids block got going early against the Omaha attack, rejecting a pair of swings as part of a 5-2 run to open the set, forcing a Supernovas timeout. Leah Meyer extended the lead to four with another block, but Londot secured a key sideout with a line-shot kill. Innet and Meyer added back-to-back kills, pushing the Grand Rapids lead to 8-3 at the first media timeout. Meyer tallied another block for the Rise, but Omaha responded with consecutive points from Onabanjo and Londot. Meyer and Nuneviller traded kills before Grand Rapids mounted a 4-0 run behind kills from Jensen and Briggs-Romine, as well as two Supernovas hitting errors. Beason ended the run with a kill on a double sub. Innet’s next attack sailed wide, but the Rise responded with a Carli Snyder block and a Beason hitting error to build a 16-8 lead at the second media timeout. Omaha came out of the stoppage firing with kills from Hilley and Parsons, but a Mosher service error and another Meyer block resulted in another Supernovas timeout with the Rise leading 18-10. After Briggs-Romine put down another kill, Reinhardt answered with a kill from the middle before Londot followed with a kill to make it 19-13. Meyer added two more points with a kill and a block, as Londot and Onabanjo also registered points in between. Parsons landed a kill in the final stretch of the set, but a few Supernovas errors and a Briggs-Romine kill secured a 25-17 opening-set win for the Rise.
The Omaha offense couldn’t find a groove, hitting .022 as Londot led with five kills. Grand Rapids hit .229 with a staggering seven blocks. Leah Meyer logged seven points in the set with four kills (.667) and three blocks.
Set 2: Innet got the action going with a kill, but a Rise service error followed. Reinhardt recorded the first Omaha block of the night, but Briggs-Romine answered with her own to tie the set. Omaha capitalized off a pair of Rise errors, but Briggs-Romine and Meyer kept the pace with a pair of points. The Supernovas sparked a run off back-to-back Grand Rapids miscues and a Londot kill for a 3-0 run and a 7-4 lead. A Nuneviller service error snapped the run, but a Mosher left-handed kill put Omaha ahead 8-5 at the first media timeout. A Parsons tip found the floor to make it 9-5, but the Rise responded with a 6-1 run, including three Innet points, to force a Supernovas timeout trailing 11-10. Reinhardt sided out with a kill before Cooper made her presence known with a kill on her first swing of the match. Cooper added another, but a pair of Snyder points put Grand Rapids ahead 16-15 at the second media timeout. Snyder came out of the break with the first ace of the night, but Reinhardt replied with three of the next Omaha kills to keep the set tied at 18. After another exchange of points, the Rise took advantage of back-to-back Supernovas errors to build a 21-19 lead and force Omaha’s second timeout of the set. A Cooper attack into the net extended the run to three, but Onabanjo used a good pass for a middle kill. Another Camryn Turner net violation led to a Cooper block, tying the set at 22 and forcing a Rise timeout. Cooper tallied her second straight block to give Omaha the lead, but Snyder sided out. Onabanjo gave the Supernovas set point at 24-23, but an Innet roll shot forced extra points. A Snyder block gave the Rise set point, but Parsons put down a kill to tie the set at 25. Omaha would be on the ropes two more times, but it was Parsons who played the role of hero, tallying two key kills to keep the Supernovas in it. A net violation by Grand Rapids set up a Nuneviller high-hands kill to deliver the Supernovas a thrilling 29-27 set-two win.
The Supernovas hit .226 in the set with three blocks as Reinhardt and Parsons each tied the team high with four kills apiece. Grand Rapids recorded a .176 team clip with two blocks and one ace. Innet caught fire with seven of the Rise’s 15 kills in the set.
Set 3: Snyder opened the action out of the intermission with her second ace of the night, but Reinhardt and Londot quickly responded with a pair of kills. The Rise took a short-lived lead off an Innet point, but Cooper and Londot kept the set tied. Onabanjo ripped a kill off the slide before Parsons’ shot found the back line for a 6-5 Supernovas edge. Snyder replied with consecutive points before Mosher’s kill snuck in between the block. Innet’s kill gave the Rise an 8-7 lead going into the media timeout, but Parsons quickly sided out with a kill. Innet posted another kill on a tip before Briggs-Romine rejected a Londot swing. A back-row attack violation pushed the Rise run to 3-0 and forced a Supernovas timeout at 11-8 Grand Rapids. The run was extended with another Omaha hitting error, but a Rise serving mistake ended the momentum. A string of miscues followed from each team before Briggs-Romine powered her attack through the block for a 14-10 Rise lead. Cooper tallied back-to-back cut shots for kills, but Snyder answered with her own to give Grand Rapids a 16-12 advantage at the second media timeout. Parsons tallied two more kills, but the Rise continued to side out and back-to-back Briggs-Romine kills forced a Supernovas timeout at 21-16. After a Grand Rapids hitting error, Londot found the sideline for an ace. Cooper and Mosher each recorded a kill to keep the deficit at three, but Snyder gave the Rise set point at 24-20. Parsons continued to excel in the red zone, putting down consecutive kills, but a Mosher serve sailed long to hand the Rise a 25-22 set win and a 2-1 match lead.
The Supernovas were still able to hit .333 as a team with Londot’s lone ace. Parsons registered a team-high six kills on a .500 clip. However, the Rise exploded for a .484 efficiency with two blocks and an ace. Snyder equaled Parsons with six kills.
Set 4: Briggs-Romine and Meyer tallied two points apiece to lead a Grand Rapids surge to begin the set, climbing to a 4-1 lead over Omaha. Cooper sided out and a Rise error cut the deficit to one, but Innet’s attack flew off Parsons for a kill and two more blocks put Grand Rapids ahead 8-5 at the first media timeout. The Rise run didn’t stop coming out of the timeout, mounting a 5-1 run to force a Supernovas timeout at 12-6. Briggs-Romine won a joust, but Parsons responded by siding out. The Rise continued to pour on the offense with a Jensen middle attack and two more kills from Innet. Parsons tooled the block, but Grand Rapids grew its lead to eight with a comfortable 16-8 advantage at the second media timeout. Briggs-Romine copied Parsons by tooling the block before an Innet serve caught Cooper’s foot for an ace and an 18-8 lead. Meyer and Snyder built the lead to 12 with two more points, but Cooper came alive for Omaha with four of the Supernovas’ last six points. Snyder officially closed things out with a kill to give the Rise a 25-14 set victory and a 3-1 match win.
Omaha hit a lowly .071 in the set with Cooper tallying six of the team’s 10 kills. Grand Rapids teed off for a .389 clip with four blocks and an ace. Briggs-Romine led the charge with five kills.
