OMAHA, NE. — Brooke Nuneviller set the franchise record for most kills and digs in one match as her standout performance led the Omaha Supernovas (9-4) to a 27-25, 20-25, 30-28, 25-22 win over the Grand Rapids Rise (6-6) Thursday night at the CHI Health Center.
Nuneviller was the star of the show pacing the Omaha offense with 24 kills on a .250 hitting percentage while collecting a match-high and franchise record 22 digs. The Oregon product broke her own previous record of 20 kills as Nuneviller also chipped in one of the Supernovas’ two aces on the night.
Setter Sydney Hilley also turned in a historic performance with a franchise-record 51 assists in four sets. The Wisconsin graduate also played stellar defense with 15 digs while throwing off the Rise defense with five kills of her own. Hilley broke the previous record of 50 assists by teammate Natalia Valentin-Anderson who set that mark in the Supernovas’ first match against the Rise on Feb. 12.
Omaha hit .240 as opposite Jess Schaben-Lansman totaled 13 kills. Rookie Paige Briggs made an instant impact off the bench hammering down 11 kills on a .500 clip to provide an offensive spark.
Middle blocker Tori Dixon tallied eight kills with one block. Teammate Hristina Vuchkova only mustered three kills, but was a force at the net with a match-high five blocks. The Bulgarian has quickly become one of the top blockers in the Pro Volleyball Federation with Thursday being the fourth time she’s recorded five blocks in the last five matches. Libero Kendall White had 18 digs while chipping in six assists.
Fellow Bulgarian and opposite Emiliya Dimitrova spearheaded the Rise attack with a team-high 23 kills on a .321 clip to go along with 16 digs and two blocks. Outside hitter Claire Chaussee also had a double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs. Setter Ashley Evans dished out 49 assists and nine digs.
The Rise hit .200 with 11 blocks. Grand Rapids’ six aces are the most any team has put down against Omaha.
Set 1: Omaha and Grand Rapids traded points early in the set. Nuneviller put the Supernovas up 11-10 with her third kill. A block by Alyssa Jensen gave the Rise their largest lead of the match at 15-12. Schaben-Lansman ended the run with a kill for the Supernovas. A pair of errors by the Rise brought the Supernovas within one, at 17-16. A dump attack by Evans put Grand Rapids up three at 22-19. Vuchkova recorded her first of five blocks on the night, and Nuneviller found her sixth kill of the set to tie the score at 22-22, forcing a Grand Rapids timeout. Chaussee sided out for the Rise with her fourth kill. A kill by Schaben-Lansman gave the Supernovas a set point, but another Chaussee kill tied the set at 24-24. After a Grand Rapids service error, Dimitrova tied the set at 25-25 with a kill. The Supernovas went on to win the next two points with a Dixon kill and Nuneviller ace to take the set 27-25. The Rise out-blocked the Supernovas 6-1 on the set, but Omaha brought it offensively and recorded 18 kills. Schaben-Lansman had seven and Nuneviller added 6.
Set 2: A kill by Dimitrova and a block by Jensen doubled the Rise lead in the second set at 6-3. Nuneviller posted her eighth kill to side-out. A tough serve by Nuneviller led to a Dixon overpass kill to close in on the Rise lead, 6-5. The Supernovas tied the set at 8-8 after a Grand Rapids error. Hilley’s second kill of the match brought the score to 15-14, Rise. Nuneviller tied the set at 17-17 with her ninth kill, but Dimitrova answered with her 11th. The Rise extended their lead to 20-18. Omaha tied it at 20-20, but the Rise went on to win the next five points and close out the set 25-20. Chaussee recorded three kills on the late Grand Rapids run. Dimitrova contributed seven kills on a .538 hitting percentage.
Set 3: The Rise took an early lead at 3-1 with Dimitrova’s 12th kill. Three different Supernovas recorded a kill to put Omaha up 8-5. After a long rally, Nuneviller extended the Supernovas lead to 10-6. Briggs recorded her first kill of the match to bring the score to 11-7, Omaha. Hilley found the donut to earn her fourth kill of the match and put Omaha up 15-13 heading into the media timeout. The Rise took the next five points to force an Omaha timeout at 18-15. Grand Rapids extended the lead to 20-17, but a kill by Schaben-Lansman and a pair of kills by Nuneviller evened the set at 20-20. The Supernovas went up 23-21 after Nuneviller’s 17th kill. Nuneviller found the court again to get the Supernovas to set point, but Dimitriova answered with a kill of her own. The Rise got their own set point at 28-27 off a Chaussee kill, but Briggs answered with a thunderous swing for her fourth kill. A pair of hitting errors on the Rise gave the Supernovas a 30-28 win in the set. Nuneviller posted 10 kills for Omaha, with a .471 hitting percentage.
Set 4: Briggs recorded a pair of kills and an ace to open the set 4-2 for the Supernovas. The Rise went on a 4-0 run to take the two-point lead at 7-5. Back-to-back Briggs kills knotted the set up at 9-9. Omaha regained the lead at 12-11 and led 15-14 going into the media timeout. The Supernovas took the next two points off a Dixon block and Nuneviller kill. The Rise mounted a 3-0 run to tie the score at 18. Schaben-Lansman recorded a kill and a block to put the Supernovas up 23-20. Dimitrova answered with her 23rd kill. Another Schaben-Lansman kill brought Omaha to match point, and Hilley ended it with another setter dump to seal the 25-22 set win. Briggs led the team with seven kills and added an ace.
The Supernovas take one day off before hosting the Vegas Thrill on Saturday, March 30 with first serve set for 6 p.m. CDT. Nebraska Public Media will televise the match with Larry Punteney and Lindsay Peterson providing commentary.
Fans can listen to all the action on the Supernovas Radio Network which is led by the flagship station, 93.7 The Ticket. Radio coverage is also on 95.7 The Boss (Omaha), KRVN (Lexington), KOLT (Scottsbluff) and KTIC (West Point).
