OMAHA, Neb. — From preseason favorites to first-ever champions, the Omaha Supernovas (18-8) swept the Grand Rapids Rise (13-13) 25-13, 26-24, 25-22 Saturday in front of 10,678 to become the inaugural PVF Champions.
Saturday marked the third sweep in the month of May for the Supernovas. Omaha had three sweeps combined in the previous three months.
During the trophy presentation, Supernovas setter Sydney Hilley was awarded the Postseason MVP and a $10,000 bonus as the Wisconsin graduate came off the bench to guide the Omaha offense to two victories. Hilley dished out 40 assists and six digs in the three sets as the Supernovas hit .342 for their second-highest hitting percentage of the season. That was after handing out 46 assists and nine digs in the reverse sweep over San Diego in the semifinals.
Olympian Bethania de la Cruz paced the Omaha attackers with 13 kills on a .423 clip to go with eight digs and her league-leading 35th ace of the season. Stephanie Samedy matched her teammate with 13 kills on a .346 hitting percentage including one ace and one block. Samedy finished the postseason with 43 total kills on a .391 clip in two matches with 13 digs, three blocks and two aces. Team captain Brooke Nuneviller was third Supernovas player to reach double-digit kills with 12 along with 15 digs.
Middle blockers Hristina Vuchkova and Tori Dixon combined for 12 kills on a .550 clip and five blocks. Vuchkova hit .750 with seven kills and one error on eight swings. She tallied a match-high three blocks. Dixon had no hitting errors with five kills on 12 swings. She earned a pair of blocks. Libero Kendall White finished her season with nine digs and two assists.
