WICHITA, Kan. – Omaha volleyball earned a four-set win in the opening match of the Shocker Volleyball Classic, downing Northern Colorado (25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 27-25) Thursday afternoon in Wichita.
Graduate middle blocker McKenna Ruch led the way with 16 kills and two blocks. Junior Kali Jurgensmeier had 14 kills and nine digs, while Amanda Hardt had 13 kills and two blocks. With eight kills, senior Shayla McCormick now has 987 career kills, just 13 shy of 1,000 at Omaha. Sophomore setter Ivy Leuck led the match with 47 assists to go with eight digs.
The opening set was tied a dozen times, including 23-23 when Omaha (2-7) closed it out with a pair of powerful kills. Sophomore Amanda Hardt’s strong crossing right hand followed by junior Brynlee Arnold’s sizzling left gave the Mavericks the first set over Northern Colorado (8-3), 25-23.
In a fast-paced second set, Omaha took a 14-10 lead on the kill by sophomore middle blocker Emily Huss, assisted by Leuck. The Mavericks never trailed from there, building a five point margin at 22-17 on Jurgensmeier’s right side kill. Set point came when Leuck set up Huss for the center right kill and the 25-21 second set win.
In the third set, Omaha led by as many as six points at 8-2, but Northern Colorado steadily rallied and overtook the Mavericks at 14-13. Ruch’s block briefly gave Omaha an 18-16 lead, but the Bears closed out the set with a 9-2 run for the 25-20 win.
The match was decided in the fourth set, as Omaha held a five point lead at 21-16 after back-to-back kills by Ruch, assisted on both by Leuck. The Bears rallied and twice fought off match point before Omaha closed it out on kills by Ruch and freshman Sarah Galligan, 27-25.
The Shocker Volleyball Classic continues through Saturday. Omaha meets Cal Poly for the first time in history Friday at 2 p.m. CT. Saturday the Mavericks play host Wichita State at 4 p.m. CT. All matches in the Shocker Classic will be broadcast on ESPN+. Host Wichita State hosts Cal Poly in Thursday’s second match.
Matt Buttermore‘s Mavericks return home to open Summit League play Thursday Sept. 26 against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Baxter Arena.
