Geoff Exstrom
Omaha Supernovas
HENDERSON, NV. - The Omaha Supernovas spoiled the Vegas Thrill’s first-ever home match with a 25-15, 24-26, 25-22, 25-19 four-set win Thursday night at the Dollar Loan Center in front of a crowd of 3,974. With the victory, Omaha (3-2) finished its two-match road trip unbeaten while avenging a five-set loss to Vegas on February 7.
Four Supernovas reached double-digit points in what was a balanced effort from Omaha. Team captain Brooke Nuneviller led the way with 18 points which included a team-high 15 kills, two aces and one block. That also involved a double-double with 13 digs. Two-time olympian Bethania de la Cruz came alive offensively, slamming down 14 kills on a .330 hitting percentage with 12 digs and one ace for 15 points. Jess Schaben-Lansman secured 11 more kills along with 12 digs for a double-double.
Middle blockers Hristina Vuchkova and Tori Dixon each had 12 points as both players totaled nine kills. Vuchkova was a force at the net tying a match-high five blocks while Dixon had three. The Minnesota graduate was more efficient offensively, hitting .333. Dixon has now hit .333 or above in four of the five matches this season.
Omaha setter Natalia Valentin-Anderson picked up her second-straight start and finished with 20 assists before Sydney Hilley took over duties in the second set. The Wisconsin product dished out 31 assists with six digs and one kill.
Supernovas libero Kendall White dug out 11 balls with two assists. Omaha hit .247 on the night with 11 blocks, 62 digs and five aces.
Thrill outside hitter Hannah Maddux recorded a match-high 19 points consisting of 16 kills and 13 digs. Saskia Hippe had 18 points, but finished with a match-high 17 kills, 10 digs and one block. Thrill setter Alisha Glass-Childress totaled 44 assists with 19 digs, two kills and one block.
Vegas (1-2) hit .222 with 13 blocks and 66 digs, but failed to ace the Supernovas.
SET 1: Nuneviller led Omaha to a strong start putting the Vegas passers in duress with two aces, plus a kill to climb out to a 5-1 lead. After two straight terminations by the Thrill, Vuchkova spearheaded another Omaha run, with the Bulgarian middle blocker and Schaben-Lansman producing a kill apiece in a 4-0 rally to extend the lead to 9-3. The two teams exchanged blows from there with Dixon and Schaben-Lansman putting down two kills each to keep the lead at 15-10. De la Cruz got into the action with her first kill to make it 16-10, but back-to-back points by the Thrill cut the lead to four. Schaben-Lansman kept up her impressive set with another kill and teamed up with Dixon for a stuff to extend the Supernovas lead to 20-13, forcing a Vegas timeout. Vegas opposite Hippe hammered down a kill and a solo block to make it 21-15, but Omaha answered with a 4-0 to win the set 25-15.
The Supernovas rolled offensively, hitting .342 in the set with Schaben-Lansman leading the way with five kills. Nuneviller, Vuchkova and De la Cruz each totaled three kills. Omaha only tallied three hitting errors in 16 swings. Supernovas setter Valentín-Anderson dished out 14 assists in the set along with three digs.
Vegas had two blocks compared to Omaha’s one. However, the Supernovas outpaced the Thrill in aces 2-0.
SET 2: Hippe rolled over her success from set one to spark an early 4-1 run for Vegas with the teams exchanging points until back-to-back kills from the Thrill made it 9-5. De la Cruz hammered three kills in a row for Omaha, but a pair of tallies from Hannah Maddux and another from Hippe forced a Supernovas timeout at 12-7 Vegas. Hippe totaled three more kills to extend the lead to 15-8.
The Supernovas switched up setters as Hilley entered the match, turning the tide. Omaha went on a 9-3 run following Hilley’s entrance as Dixon notched two kills, a block with Nuneviller and back-to-back aces to cut the lead to one at 18-17. A hitting error by Vegas tied the set at 18, but the Thrill followed with a 5-1 run to take a commanding 23-19 set advantage. Omaha proved to be resilient, running the table with a 5-1 run which included surviving a set point to tie the score at 24 after a Vegas hitting error. Hippe swatted down her sixth kill of the set to give Vegas the lead which was followed by a block to give the Thrill a 26-24 set two win.
Omaha pushed the set into extra points despite hitting only .184 in the set compared to the Thrill’s .316. Hippe and Maddox led the Vegas attack with six kills apiece as star middle blocker Molly McCage made an impact with three kills and a block. De la Cruz extended her match total with three kills while Dixon, Vuchkova and Schaben-Lansman each recorded two tallies. Vuchkova was the leader at the net for Omaha with two blocks.
Vegas out blocked the Supernovas 4-3, but the Thrill laid an egg in the ace column with Omaha acing Vegas twice.
SET 3: The Supernovas came out on fire after the intermission as de la Cruz hammered three kills to begin the set, including her league-leading 17th ace. Schaben-Lansman terminated from the right side with Nuneviller and Vuchkova combining for a block to make the score 10-4 Omaha - forcing a Vegas timeout. The Thrill block woke up after the short stoppage as Hippe combined with Maddux and McCage on back-to-back blocks. The Supernovas rallied with a 3-1 run, but three straight points by the Thrill cut the lead to 15-12 forcing Omaha to call a timeout of their own.
The Supernovas kept an arm’s reach distance from Vegas for the rest of the set as the Thrill came within two points after kills from Gabby Gonzales and a dump by setter Childress-Glass. A hitting and service error bumped the lead back to 23-20. Omaha finished off the set with back-to-back Dixon attacks to win set three 25-22.
A balanced offense led the way for the Supernovas as d la Cruz, Dixon, Nuneviller and Schaben-Lansman each totaled three kills. Vuchkova was the force at the net locking up three blocks while de la Cruz produced the lone ace in the set for Omaha. The Supernovas hit .162 with three blocks and 13 digs. Hilley dished out 11 assists.
Maddux led Vegas with five kills and Gonzales adding three. Hippe and McCage each added two kills. The Thrill hit .167 with three blocks and 18 digs.
SET 4: It was a set of runs to begin the fourth game. The Supernovas jumped out to another big lead to begin the set as de la Cruz added two more kills as part of a 6-1 run. Dixon took care of an overpass while also combining with Schaben-Lansman for a block. Vegas responded with a 5-1 run of their own behind McCage who terminated a kill and recorded two blocks to cut the lead to 7-6. An 8-3 Omaha run came next thanks to Vuchkova who secured a block and three of her nine kills in that stretch. Both teams would go back and forth, but Vegas were unable to build a run to challenge the Supernovas as Nuneviller’s 42nd swing landed on the floor for the match-winning kill as Omaha won the set 25-19.
The Supernovas return home for a one-game stint as they take on the Orlando Valkyries at 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 18 at the CHI Health Center. The match will be broadcasted on the WORLD Channel as part of Nebraska Public Media.
Fans can also 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 KTOC (West Point).