DENVER, Colo. – Fresh off back-to-back shutout victories at home, the Mavericks hit the road and traveled to Denver, Colorado where they kicked off their three-match road trip with their third sweep in a row as they blanked the University of Denver 3-0 Tuesday night.
Omaha is now back over .500 again as they improve to 8-7 overall and 3-2 in the Summit League. Denver, who entered the day one game ahead of Omaha in the standings, is now virtually tied with the Mavericks for fourth in the league at 3-2 in conference play and 9-7 overall.
Set by Set: (26-24, 25-15, 25-22)
- Omaha started the night off with one of their best comebacks of the season. After Denver opened the match kill, the Mavericks found themselves trailing all the way up to the Pioneers reaching set point. However, thanks to multiple costly service and attack errors from Denver, as well as four kills from Shayla McCormick and three from McKenna Ruch, Omaha never trailed by more than four points. Then, on the verge of losing the set at 21-24, the Mavericks got hot at the perfect time as McCormick picked up another kill, followed by three in a row from Marriah Buss, before McCormick capped off the 5-0 run with an ace to give Omaha the set.
- Set two started off as a back-and-forth affair as both teams traded blows before ending up at 11-11. From there, though, the Mavericks completely took over the set as they fired off five straight points to take the lead and hold it for good. Ruch was everywhere during this set, blocking five shots while recording three kills and a service ace as she accounted for nine of Omaha’s points. Rachel Fairbanks also thrived during set two, racking up three blocks and two kills.
- With two sets in hand, the Mavericks got off to a fast start in set three, quickly coming out to a 10-6 lead. Ruch, McCormick, and Buss all notched another kill here, with Ruch also recording another block. The Pioneers were not out of it yet, however, as they tried to pull off a similar comeback to the Mavericks in set one. Eventually, they whittled the Mavericks’ lead down to one point as they had a late surge to bring the score to 23-22 Omaha. Upon reaching match point, a wild rally ensued that featured quite possibly the best dig of the season from Jaiden Centeno who laid all the way out to just barely get her fingers under the ball, paving the way for McCormick to deal the finishing blow.
Inside the Box Score
- The Mavericks edged out the Pioneers in nearly every category, leading them in kills (56-44), aces (4-2), blocks (10-6), assists (40-35), digs (32-26), and attack percentage (.318-.207).
- McCormick led all players today as she recorded 15 kills to go along with her .379 attack percentage.
- Ruch paced both teams in total blocks with eight, and also led the Mavericks with a .417 attack percentage.
- Olivia Curry had her third match in a row with double-digit assists (12) as she and Sami Clarkson (24) once again split setting duties.
- All four of Omaha’s aces came from separate players, with Ruch, McCormick, Curry, and Brilee Wieseler all picking up one.
Up Next
The Mavericks will pack their things and move on to Tulsa, Oklahoma where they will take on Oral Roberts this Thursday at 7 p.m. for the second match of their road trip.
