Courtesy of Geoff Exstrom of the Omaha Supernovas
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Omaha Supernovas, the world’s leading professional volleyball franchise, rallied behind a record-setting night from outside hitter Sarah Parsons to right the ship and deliver a dominant 25-22, 25-16, 25-17 sweep of the Columbus Fury (3-12) on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena in front of 2,226.
Coming off her standout performance against Grand Rapids a few nights earlier, Parsons continued to put her name in the franchise record book, turning in an Omaha (8-9) three-set record with 18 kills on a .441 efficiency while posting a match-high 12 digs and one block for her second straight double-double and fifth of the season. She was dominant in the match-sealing third set, matching the franchise single-set record with 10 points and 10 kills.
Fellow outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller enjoyed her best outing since missing the Feb. 22 match at San Diego due to illness, tallying 11 kills, eight digs and one assist. Opposite Emily Londot produced nine points on seven kills and two blocks, while adding eight digs in her return to her home state.
Janice Leao made her first start since the third match of the season on Jan. 16 and delivered her best performance of the year. The former Fury middle blocker recorded a .625 hitting percentage with six kills on eight swings and one error. While she added just one block, the 6-foot-3 Leao helped ignite a slumping Supernovas block with her size and physicality, resulting in Omaha outplaying the league’s best blocking squad. Despite a slow offensive night with two kills on a negative hitting percentage, rookie Kiara Reinhardt stepped up alongside Leao at the net with a match-high two blocks and two aces — pushing her season total to 15 and tying her for second in MLV.
Setter Sydney Hilley dished out 37 assists with three digs and combined with Reinhardt for two of the team’s four aces. Libero Elena Oglivie finished with seven digs, marking just the second match this season she did not reach double-digit digs.
The Supernovas compiled a .269 hitting percentage with four aces, seven blocks, 42 assists, 43 digs and 44 kills.
Columbus struggled under Omaha’s service pressure, producing a .107 team hitting percentage with 18 hitting errors compared to just 30 kills. No player recorded more than six kills, as Raina Terry and Megan Lush each finished with six. The Fury added two aces, six blocks, 29 assists and 37 digs.
After the team’s longest road stretch of the season, the Supernovas return to Kiewit Court at the CHI Health Center for Luck of the Novas on Saturday, March 14, against the league-leading Indy Ignite in what is expected to be a record-breaking professional volleyball crowd. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CDT, with the match streaming on The Roku Sports Channel and airing worldwide on the Supernovas Radio Network.
Key Notes
- Setter Sydney Hilley became the franchise’s all-time assists leader after recording 37, pushing her Supernovas career total to 1,393 and surpassing the previous mark of 1,363 held by Natalia Valentín-Anderson.
- Brooke Nuneviller became just the second player in MLV history to reach 1,000 career points after tallying 11 against the Fury, joining Atlanta’s Leah Edmond.
- Omaha’s sweep marked its third of the season, tied for the third-most in the league and making the Supernovas one of three teams with more than two.
- Tuesday’s result snapped the Supernovas’ franchise-long six-match losing streak, marking their first win since Feb. 8 at Orlando.
- Omaha improved to 9-2 all-time against Columbus, including 5-1 at Nationwide Arena.
- The Fury recorded 30 kills, the third time they have been held to that total against the Supernovas, which is tied for the third-lowest opponent kill output in franchise history.
- Columbus matched the franchise record for the fewest service errors in a match (three) by a Supernovas opponent.
- The Fury finished with 37 digs, the second-lowest opponent total in Supernovas history.
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Set 1: The Supernovas took advantage of a pair of Columbus errors to build a 2-0 lead before Reagan Pittman-Nelson terminated a slide attack for the Fury’s first point. Nuneviller threw down a kill in between the Columbus defense before Leao followed with a thunderous attack from the middle. Abby Walker and Nuneviller traded kills before Lush got on the board with a cross-court termination. After both teams put a serve into the net, Parsons powered an attack through the block to put the Supernovas ahead 8-6 at the first media timeout. Londot tooled the block out of the stoppage, and a Fury hitting error capped a 3-0 run for Omaha and a 10-6 lead. Terry ended a string of errors, but Londot rejected a Columbus attack to give the Supernovas a four-point edge. An Omaha service error and a Jaelyn Hodge kill cut the lead to two, but Parsons sided out with a back-row attack. Londot’s next swing sailed long, and Walker followed with her third ace of the season to force an Omaha timeout at 13-12. Leao put down a swing for a kill to side out, but Columbus tied the set on another Londot error and a Terry kill. Another wide Supernovas attack put the Fury ahead 16-15 at the second media timeout. After a Fury service error, Hilley dropped in an ace to give Omaha the lead, but Columbus mounted a 3-0 run with a Pittman-Nelson kill and ace, plus a Walker point for a 19-17 lead. The Supernovas tied the set again with a Londot kill and Columbus error to force a Fury timeout at 19-19. Omaha continued the momentum with three straight points out of the break, extending the run to 5-0 and building a 22-19 lead. Another Columbus hitting error pushed the run to six before Terry sided out. Hodge stuffed an attack to cut the deficit to two, but another hitting miscue gave the Supernovas set point. Walker turned away Nuneviller to keep the set alive, but another Parsons back-row attack found the floor to give Omaha a 25-22 opening-set win.
The Supernovas posted a .158 team hitting percentage with one block and one ace. Parsons led the offense with four kills, while Nuneviller and Londot each tallied three. Columbus struggled to a .050 efficiency with two blocks and two aces, as Terry logged a team-leading three kills.
Set 2: Lush and Pittman-Nelson registered back-to-back kills to open the set before a Reinhardt attack went long for a quick 3-0 Fury lead. Nuneviller provided a spark with back-to-back kills before a Reinhardt block tied the set at 3-3. Hilley continued to feed the hot Nuneviller, who put down two more kills. Londot followed with a right-side termination, and Reinhardt placed a serve into the seam to cap a 4-0 run and give Omaha a 7-4 advantage. Columbus responded with consecutive points, but Leao put Omaha ahead 8-6 heading into the first media timeout. The Supernovas rallied again out of the break, using a Leao kill, Fury net violation and Nuneviller termination to stretch the lead to 10-6. Leao found the floor again for a kill after a pair of Fury points, but Parsons answered with a kill and block on consecutive rallies to force a Columbus timeout at 13-8. Lush sided out with a bic attack, but Parsons responded with another kill before Londot blocked another Fury attack. Parsons sent a ball wide on a free ball for a Columbus point, but she answered with another kill to give Omaha a 16-10 lead at the second media timeout. The Fury found momentum out of the stoppage with a double substitution, using a Pittman-Nelson kill to spark a 4-1 run that included a pair of kills from opposite Kashauna Williams. After Columbus pulled within three, Nuneviller used a well-placed cut shot for a kill, which was followed by a solo Leao block to make it a 19-14 Omaha lead. Three straight Columbus mistakes pushed the lead to eight, but the Fury responded with a pair of points from a Terry joust and a Williams block. Nuneviller gave the Supernovas set point before Leao closed the set with a kill to secure a 25-16 win for Omaha.
The Supernovas logged a .250 hitting percentage with four blocks and one ace. Nuneviller led the set with seven kills on a .357 clip. The Fury struggled to a .146 efficiency with three blocks, while Lush and Pittman-Nelson each recorded a team-high three kills.
Set 3: Columbus came out firing once again, using an errant Reinhardt attack and block to grab an early 2-0 lead. The Supernovas countered with Parsons, who tallied two kills along with a Hilley ace during a 3-0 run. After an Omaha service error, Parsons added another kill and Londot fired a point from the right side for a 6-4 advantage. The Fury responded with back-to-back terminations from Terry and Lush, but Londot added another point and Hilley rejected a Lush attack for an 8-6 Supernovas lead at the media timeout. Despite Pittman-Nelson siding out of the stoppage, two more Columbus mistakes and a Parsons cross-court kill extended the lead to 11-7, prompting a Fury timeout. Akasha Anderson sided out, and a Supernovas error made it two straight points out of the timeout, but Omaha responded with another Parsons kill. Ashley Evans put down a setter attack before Parsons terminated again and Reinhardt added another block. Anderson tallied another kill before Parsons sent the teams to the second media timeout with the Supernovas leading 16-11. Reinhardt finally found her connection with Hilley, firing down two kills and thumping an ace off Fury libero Kamaile Hiapo to force a Columbus timeout at 19-12. Leao, Parsons and Nuneviller padded the lead with kills before Lush and Pittman-Nelson recorded a pair of points for the Fury. Parsons terminated another cross-court shot before Londot’s slide kill gave the Supernovas set point. Anderson sided out before Parsons capped the sweep with her 18th and final kill to seal the 25-17 set win.
Omaha saved its best set for last, posting a .433 hitting percentage with two blocks and two aces. Parsons set franchise records with 10 kills in the set on 13 swings for a .692 clip. Columbus finished with a .125 efficiency and one block, as Anderson led the team with three kills.
