OMAHA, NE. — The Omaha Supernovas defeated the Orlando Valkyries for the fourth time this season in a 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 25-20 four-set win Saturday night inside the CHI Health Center which welcomed a record-breaking 12,090 fans. The victory completed a season sweep of the Valkyries (5-7) as the Supernovas (8-4) won their third four-set match against Orlando.
Three Supernovas recorded double-digit kills including team captain Brooke Nuneviller who led the offensive charge tying a match-high 15 kills to go along with 12 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Two-time Olympian Bethania de la Cruz exploded for 13 kills, eight digs, two aces and two blocks. Her two aces upped her league-leading total to 23 on the season. De la Cruz earned double-digit kills for the first time since hosting Orlando on February 18. Nia Reed hammered down 11 kills in her first start of the season at opposite. She tallied her first double-double of the season with 11 digs, two blocks and one ace. Omaha hit .214 as a team.
Middle blockers Hristina Vuchkova and Tori Dixon led an excellent Omaha front row that recorded 12 blocks including four from Vuchkova and three from Dixon. The two middles combined for 13 kills on a .324 clip in an efficient offensive performance. Dixon tallied seven of those kills while Vuchkova had six.
Libero Kendall White recorded 21 digs with four assists. Setter Sydney Hilley dished out 41 assists in four sets to go along with 15 digs which was second on the team. She also had one kill, one ace and one block. The Supernovas tallied four aces on the night.
Four Valkyries finished with double-digit kills including 15 from opposite Shaïnah Joseph, 13 from Adora Anae and 10 from Jill Gillen. Kaz Brown recorded 12 kills, but did so on a staggering .545 clip and one block. The Valkyries hit .173 as a team with eight blocks and four aces.
Set 1: The Valkyries shot out to a quick 7-4 lead behind Anae’s third kill of the match. Omaha took the lead at 9-8 after a de la Cruz block. The Supernovas extended their lead to 14-10 after a Dixon overpass kill followed by a block. Orlando setter Wilma Rivera recorded her 13th ace of the season to cut the Omaha lead to one at 14-13. Orlando errors and a Reed ace gave the Supernovas their largest lead of the match at 19-14. Vuchkova tallied back-to-back kills for a 21-17 Supernovas lead. The Valkyries mounted a late comeback, but a Nuneviller kill gave Omaha set point, 24-22. Gillen put a serve into the net to give the Supernovas a first set victory, 25-23. The Supernovas outblocked the Valkyries 5-0, and Vuchkova paced the offensive effort with three kills.
Set 2: A Hilley ace gave the Supernovas an early 3-0 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Joseph gave Orlando the 5-4 lead. Anae followed up with a kill of her own. The two teams traded points later in the set before Omaha grabbed the 15-14 advantage going into the media timeout. Reed’s fourth kill put Omaha up two, 16-14. Three consecutive Orlando kills forced the Omaha timeout at 21-19. A kill by M’Kaela White gave the Valkyries set point, and Azhani Tealer finished it out 25-22 with her second kill of the match. Brown recorded six kills in the set for the Valkyries and posted a .750 hitting percentage. Orlando tallied 17 kills to the Supernovas’ 12.
Set 3: The Supernovas went on an early 3-0 run to take the 5-2 advantage. An Omaha block forced an Orlando timeout at 8-3. Brown ended the run with her 11th kill. The Valkyries came back and grabbed the 12-10 lead behind a Gillen kill. Gillen extended the lead to 17-14 with an ace. De la Cruz found her groove by recording three consecutive kills to even the score at 20-20. A Joseph kill followed by an Anae ace put the Valkyries up 22-20. With its back against the walls, Omaha mounted a late set comeback. Reed terminated her eighth kill of the match which was followed by back-to-back Nuneviller tallies to give the Supernovas a 23-22 edge. De la Cruz fired her first ace of the night to give Omaha set point. Reed put the finishing touches on a 5-0 run with a block to set the record-breaking crowd into a frenzy giving the Supernovas a 25-22 set three win.
Set 4: The Valkyries opened the set with a 5-2 lead behind Anae’s 10th kill of the match. Back-to-back Orlando blocks doubled their lead to 8-4. The Supernovas mounted another comeback behind Nuneviller’s serve. Back-to-back blocks by Omaha tied the score at 8-8. Joseph ended the run with her 14th kill. De la Cruz recorded her second ace of the match to give the Supernovas a two-point advantage, 16-14. A pair of Supernovas’ kills gave them a 21-18 lead. Paige Briggs came into serve for Vuchkova leading to another de la Cruz kill. Brown responded with her 12th kill to bring the score to 24-20, but de la Cruz ended the match with her 13th kill for a 25-20 set victory. De la Cruz posted six kills in the set with four different Supernovas recording a block.
The Supernovas begin a 12-day rest as they prepare to face the Grand Rapids Rise for the second time this season on Thursday, March 28 in Omaha. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CDT.
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).
