Story by Omaha Supernovas Communication
Fishers, IND. — The Omaha Supernovas, Nebraska professional volleyball team and first pro volleyball champions, pulled off their second reverse sweep in franchise history Thursday night at the Fishers Event Center, defeating the Indy Ignite (8-8) in a thrilling five-set battle 21-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-13.
The wins marks the seventh in the last eight matches for the Supernovas (11-4) who move into sole first place in the PVF standings after the Orlando Valkyries (11-5) lost to the San Diego Mojo in another five-set thriller. After starting the season 2-2, Omaha has taken victory in nine of its last 11 matches with the only losses being to Orlando — who they face on Saturday.
Superstar outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller finished with a team-high 17 kills with nine digs, two blocks and the team’s lone ace for 20 points. However, it was the effort from rookie outside hitter Ally Batenhorst who helped fuel the comeback, pouring in a professional career high 16 kills on a .282 clip in four sets. The Houston native — who hadn’t appeared in a match since February 16 — also added eight digs and one assist. Opposite Kelsie Payne also made a major impact off the bench with eight kills on a .421 hitting percentage. Reigning PVF Player of the Week Emily Londot contributed eight kills on the night before being replaced by Payne.
Both Supernovas middle blockers had excellent nights as Kayla Caffey put in her best performance of the season with eight kills (.400) and a match-high five blocks. Kaitlyn Hord ended with six kills (.385) and four blocks to extend her league-leading total to 52 on the season.
Setter Mac Podraza sparked the offense in her first extended action of the season when she came in for Natalia Valentín-Anderson in the second set. Podraza dished out 37 assists and four digs with her performance highlighted by the offense hitting to a tune of .455 in the decisive fifth game. Libero Camila Gómez added 15 digs and five assists.
Omaha hit .262 for the match while having 13 blocks with 12 of those coming in the final four sets. The Supernovas also finished with one ace.
Indy recorded a .240 hitting percentage with nine blocks and three aces. All-Star opposite Azhani Tealer had a historic evening for the Ignite with 31 kills (.350), nine digs and three blocks. It’s the most for a Supernovas opponent in franchise history. Two other Ignite players reached double figure kills in rookies Anna DeBeer (12) and Nina Čajić (10).
The Supernovas round out their three-match road trip with a visit to the Orlando Valkyries for a battle of the top two teams in the PVF on Saturday, March 15. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CDT at Addition Financial Arena with the match being streamed live on the PVF YouTube channel.
Key Notes
- Thursday’s reverse sweep is the second in franchise history. The first being against the San Diego Mojo in the PVF Semifinals on May 15, 2024 at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. The Supernovas move to 6-5 all-time in five set matches.
- Brooke Nuneviller tallied her 500th career kill with the Supernovas. Her nine digs brings her Omaha career total to 499. With one dig on Saturday, Nuneviller will become the first player in PVF history to have 500 kills and 500 digs.
- Natalia Valentín-Anderson reached the 1,000-assist mark with the franchise. She finished with 13 assists and four digs on the night.
- Omaha extended its own franchise record with a fifth-straight road win. The Supernovas own the best road record in the league this season at 7-2. Orlando (4-3) is the only other team in the PVF to have a road record over .500.
Set 1: Indy came firing out of the gate as DeBeer slammed down two kills and CC Crawford recorded a block to give the Ignite an early 6-1 lead. Londot ended the run with a kill to mark Omaha’s first kill of the night. Hord terminated on a middle set to jumpstart a 4-0 run for the Supernovas who got a Londot block and two Indy hitting errors to tie things up at six. Tealer unloaded on a cross court shot, and then an Omaha error gave the Ignite a two-point edge. Nuneviller responded with a pair of kills, but Tealer answered with a kill and block for a 12-9 lead. Londot posted two more kills and a Hord overpass point cut the deficit to two. Nuneviller and Valentín-Anderson put balls down to keep it at 18-16 Indy, but the Ignite put together a 3-0 run off a Tealer kill and two from DeBeer to force a Supernovas timeout at 21-16. Caffey capitalized on a middle slide out of the break. Londot tooled the block and Cooper followed with her first and only kill, but Indy stayed ahead 23-20. Londot nicked a pinky to delay set point, but a Čajić kill secured a 25-21 Ignite win.
The Supernovas were limited to a .233 hitting percentage with one block. Londot led the charge with a team-high seven kills and the team’s one block. Tealer went off to tie Londot with seven kills (.545) while DeBeer added five.
Set 2: A flurry of errors plagued both teams but a pair of blocks by Indy put the Ignite ahead 3-1 in the early stages. Following a service error, Batenhorst put one down the line for her first kill of the night to tie the score at three. Setter Sydney Hilley found former Wisconsin teammate Crawford in the middle for two kills to jump ahead 6-3. A DeBeer termination and another block by Crawford extended the Indy advantage to 8-4. Nuneviller found the floor for a kill, but two more points by the Ignite doubled up the Supernovas at 10-5. Back-to-back blocks from Podraza and league leader Hord capped off a 4-1 run for Omaha to get within three at 13-10. An Indy block and two more Tealer kills put the lead back to five at 16-11 Ignite at the media timeout. Podraza started to lean into the middle attack for the Supernovas as Hord and Caffey made up the next four Omaha kills. An Indy hitting error put the Supernovas deficit only at 19-16. Lydia Martyn made her first impact of the match by making up three points in a 4-0 run to put Indy up 23-16. Tealer put the finishing touches on the set with her 14th kill to lock up a 25-18 set win for the Ignite.
Omaha hit .129 with Nuneviller tallying three kills while Batenhorst, Hord and Caffey chipped in two apiece. The Supernovas added two blocks coming courtesy of Hord and Podraza. Indy posted a .371 hitting percentage with four blocks as Tealer once again sparked the Ignite attack with seven kills (.545) while Martyn finished with four.
Set 3: Caffey started the set with a block to fuel the Supernovas. Indy quickly answered with two points to take a 2-1 lead, but Caffey terminated on a swing and a Batenhorst kill down the line put Omaha ahead 3-2. Nuneviller created momentum at the net with a block and kill. Caffey found the floor with a middle attack and recorded her second block of the set to cap a 3-0 run to force an Indy timeout at 10-6 Supernovas. Čajić responded by serving a 3-0 run for the Ignite, which included her team-leading 12th ace to tie the set at 10. Batenhorst took the set into her own hands with back-to-back kills and a solo block to push the Omaha lead to 13-10. Tealer and Crawford cut the advantage to one with a pair of points, but another 3-0 run for the Supernovas put them ahead 16-12 at the media timeout behind kills from Batenhorst and Payne. Hord stuffed Tealer for her second block of the night forcing Indy into a timeout at 17-12. Hord found the floor on a slide as both Nuneviller and Payne followed up with kills to put the lead at 20-14. A pair of hitting errors led to a 3-0 Ignite run, but Batenhorst sneaked in a kill down the line to keep the lead at four. Caffey continued her dominant performance at the net with her third block to give the Supernovas set point, which was completed by Batenhorst for a 25-20 win.
Omaha hit .265 in a mostly balanced attack as Batenhorst finished with a team-high six kills. The Supernovas found their groove at the net with six blocks including three from Caffey. Indy struggled and hit .000 with nine kills and nine errors on 35 swings. The Ignite posted two blocks and one ace in the set.
Set 4: Batenhorst added the first kill of the set for the Supernovas, but Indy went off for a 4-1 rally off two Čajić kills and one apiece from Crawford and DeBeer. Omaha responded with a 7-2 run as Nuneviller led the way with four kills, plus another Caffey block for an 8-7 lead. Caffey bounced a swing off a defender for a kill and Nuneviller served her fourth ace of the season. Payne followed an Indy service error with a thunderous swing to force an Ignite timeout at 12-9 Supernovas. Omaha’s offense disappeared out of the break as an Indy block and two Tealer kills tied the set at 13. Two more Supernovas errors and another termination from Tealer put the Ignite ahead 16-14 at the media timeout. Nuneviller continued the block party for Omaha and an Indy hitting error tied the set at 17. Caffey and Payne went back-to-back on kills for a 19-18 Supernovas edge. Both teams traded blows, but a DeBeer kill put the Ignite ahead 23-22. The Louisville product followed with a service error. Valentín-Anderson came in as a serving sub, digging a rocket from Tealer. The dig found Nuneviller on the left side who put it down the line off second contact for set point. An Indy attack went wide ending a 25-23 set four win for the Supernovas to force a fifth.
Omaha hit .294 and had three blocks. The offense received a team-high six kills (.364) from Nuneviller while Batenhorst added four. The Ignite posted the same hitting percentage (.294) with Tealer spearheading the Indy attack as she put down seven kills on a .417 clip.
Set 5: Tealer opened the set with a kill, but Caffey and Batenhorst fired back with consecutive tallies. Tealer contributed the next two points for Indy off a kill and ace to retake the lead. Hord tied the set again with a kill. Both teams went back-and-forth before a pair of Omaha errors put the Ignite ahead 8-6 at the media timeout. Payne fired a shot that bounced off an Ignite arm for a kill, which was followed by an Indy hitting error for an 8-8 tie. Tealer and Nuneviller exchanged kills before Tealer found the floor on back-to-back attacks for an 11-9 Indy lead. The Ignite leaned on Tealer for another kill at 12-10, but a string of three-straight points — including two from Batenhorst — gave the Supernovas its second lead of the set at 13-12. An Omaha service error knotted things up again, but a successful Payne cut shot forced an Ignite timeout at 14-13 Supernovas. Despite dominating all night, Tealer’s final swing sailed wide to give Omaha a 15-13 set win to complete the reverse sweep.
The Supernovas saved its best offense for last, hitting at a .455 clip with 11 kills and one error on 22 swings. Batenhorst (4) and Payne (3) shared the load by combining for seven of the 11 kills. Hord added the one block in the set for Omaha. Indy struggled with a .160 hitting percentage recording four errors against its eight kills, which all came from Tealer.