Mavericks Use 4th Set Rally to Defeat North Dakota 3-1

In a game of new versus old, the freshmen on the Omaha Mavericks squad outlasted the powerful senior hitter Jordan Vail to defeat the Fighting Hawks 3-1 at Baxter Arena Friday night in front of the largest crowd of the season.

"[Vail] jumps high and it was hard to time the block, but by the end of the game we shut her down pretty well" said freshman Sadie Limback after the game.

"Early North Dakota set her high, and she clearly has the better jump," said Omaha head coach Rose Shires, "We did a good job of serving to [get North Dakota] serving lower. She is a phenomenal athlete, we can only jump as high as we can jump against her, but our serving was the key."

North Dakota senior Jordan Vail challenged Omaha all night, with 16 kills on .333 hitting

Omaha freshman Sadie Limback was the favorite target for freshman setter Sydney Case, registering a team high 16 kills on 44 swings. Case did her part in spreading the ball out; four Mavericks finished the evening with 12+ kills. "We like to have Sadie involved in the offense, I think it's a very good connection that Sydney and Sadie have," said Shires. 

Omaha overcame a sloppy 2nd set in which they dropped a 25-20 decision. Both teams failed to build momentum throughout the set, with 14 ties and 9 lead changes. North Dakota capitalized on errors down the stretch in a 6-1 run to end the set.

Freshman Sadie Limback led the Mavs in kills (16) and service errors (5)

Omaha responded by coming out of the break on fire, jumping out to an early 5-0 lead and cruising to a 25-11 victory in the 3rd set. 

The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead once again in the 4th set, leading 15-9 before getting outscored 16-5 and facing three set points down 24-21. North Dakota failed to convert on five set-points, allowing Omaha to claw back one last time and win the match with a 28-26 win.

The listed attendance of 731 is the largest home crowd of the season, and the third largest crowd to watch Omaha play this season. Omaha Head Coach Rose Shires was very proud of the crowd and the noise they brought in big moments. "The players feed off of it and responded well to the crowd tonight," said Shires after the game.

Omaha's Rose Shires recently picked up her 500th career victory

Omaha improves to 10-7, 5-0 Summit. North Dakota falls to 12-9, 4-2. Omaha also remains unbeaten at 6-0 in home games this season.

Quick Hits

North Dakota freshman libero Taliyah Flores returned home to a loud ovation. The Omaha native graduated from Papillion-La Vista South High School.

Omaha freshman Kenzie Michalek is from rival high school Papillion-La Vista, and it may just have been part of the system, but I noticed Flores serving at Michalek every chance she got.

UND Freshman Taliyah Flores was one of seven Omaha-area natives between the two teams 

Omaha's Sydney Case recorded 50+ assists for the 7th time this season. Her 55 assists tonight were good for a 13.75 assists per set average.

Omaha will next visit South Dakota on Friday, October 12. North Dakota's next match will be a home game against Summit League favorite Denver on Sunday.