Despite playing in just one rally during Omaha’s first five matches, Reagan Cooper never felt uncomfortable on the court.
When she finally got her shot to play against the Indy Ignite last Saturday, the Supernovas outside hitter recorded 17 kills. Then, against San Diego on Friday, she finished with 23 kills and 17 digs and delivered some of the biggest kills of the match.
Cooper’s final attack of the match, a power cross-court shot, hit the floor to give Omaha a 21-25, 28-26, 25-17, 20-25, 21-19 victory.
The Kansas product said even though she hasn’t received much playing time this season, she felt comfortable playing next to outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller, her teammate from last year, and setter Sydney Hilley and libero Morgan Hentz, with whom she played in Athletes Unlimited in the fall.
That confidence allowed her to take big swings in clutch moments and deliver. On the last swing of the match, Cooper said she went up and hit the ball as hard as she could. As her final attack hit the floor, the crowd of 11,608, the biggest of the season, went into a frenzy.
“Of course, it’s nerve-racking. That’s my first time playing in front of the home crowd this season, but I know what shots that I can take, and I saw that it was open, so I just went for it,” she said. “At that point, it was nothing to lose. That’s what I was telling myself. So I’m glad it worked out. But in that moment, I was just like, ‘Give me the ball. Give me the ball.’ Even though I was nervous, I’m just going to be as aggressive as I possibly can.”
Reagan Cooper goes for an attack against the San Deigo Mojo. The outside hitter finished with a match-high 23 kills in her second start of the season. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Early in the match, Cooper’s shots weren’t falling for points, but Nuneviller encouraged her fellow outside hitter to keep swinging away, and eventually they would score. The captain told Cooper that even if they got stuffed, they had her back and would cover her.
Cooper finished with a .310 hitting percentage, but she also delivered with her defense. Both of her blocks came in the fifth set and gave Omaha a one-point advantage (11-10 and 13-12), and she tied Hentz for the team lead with 17 digs.
Omaha coach Luka Slabe had previously said that Cooper wasn’t playing earliers this season because of her passing, digging and serving. While her offense was never in doubt, she focused on her defense and earned playing time.
“She’s been working tirelessly on her defense, and today, in the most vital, crucial moments, she came up with some really nice digs — maybe not so great early in the match — but when it really matters, she made plays that maybe Coop didn’t do in the past, but she’s doing them now,” Slabe said.
Cooper’s final kill concluded a back-and-forth fifth set that capped off a back-and-forth match.
After San Diego (1-5) ran away with the first set, the Mojo appeared in control of the second set with a 16-13 lead. However, Slabe subbed in Merritt Beason at opposite for Emily Londot (3 kills, 11 digs). The crowd responded with one of the biggest cheers of the night, and the Supernovas rode the energy boost with an 8-1 run that Beason capped off with a kill for a 21-17 lead.
Even though Londot wasn’t playing poorly, Slabe said he needed to try to switch up the energy.
“They’re both great. They’re just different,” he said. “That change sometimes shakes up the team on the other side a little bit. We know when Merritt comes in, 11,000 people go, ‘Whoa, okay.’ And that gives the team another boost, and that’s what we needed at that point.”
Omaha (4-3) rode the momentum to run away with the third set before San Diego made several adjustments of their own, turning to their own former Huskers. Outside hitter Hayden Kubik came in late in the third set and remained in the match, and middle blocker Kayla Caffey started the fourth set.
The Mojo went up 10-8 after a 6-1 run and extended their lead to 16-11. Omaha closed to two points (19-17), but San Diego responded with three straight points before eventually closing out the set.
Sydney Hilley and Kiara Reinhardt go up for a block. Hilley had 62 assists and 14 digs while Reinhardt finished with 18 kills and two blocks while hitting .640 for the Supernovas. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Mojo outside hitter Grace Loberg led the Mojo with 19 kills and 18 digs, while middle blocker Marin Grote tallied 12 kills at a .440 hitting percentage with five blocks. Opposite Morgan Lewis finished with 12 kills and 21 digs.
“I’m really proud of the way that we responded when they changed things up and when they were making adjustments,” San Diego coach Alisha Childress said. “It’s really nice to see the team’s resilience. It would have been really fun to win that, but I’m really proud of the battle.”
In the fifth set, San Diego came out swinging hard and terminated on five of its seven attacks. The Supernovas also missed their first two serves of the set and fell behind 8-3.
However, Omaha began to chip away at its deficit. They ran off three straight points with rookie Brooke Mosher at the service line delivering a nasty top-spin jump serve. After a San Diego block, the Supernovas scored three more points, including two on kills from Kiara Reinhardt.
Reinhardt, who finished with 18 kills — the most ever by a Supernova middle blocker — on a .640 hitting percentage, said they couldn’t redo any of the eight rallies they lost, so they tried to focus on the next point.
“We can’t change those, so we’re going to make the next one better,” Reinhardt said. “ We just kept telling ourselves this one point, that’s what matters. You string a couple of those together, and you’re right back in there, and it’s back in battle mode.”
The Creighton graduate recorded six kills in the final set, including one on the penultimate rally.
Reagan Cooper goes for an attack on the final point of the match against San Diego Mojo. The Supernovas converted their fifth match point to win the final set 21-19. Photo by John S. Peterson.
After Omaha rallied to get back in the set, neither team led by more than one point until the final score.
San Diego had two chances to win the match, but Cooper wiped away the first match point, and then Nuneviller, who finished with 20 kills, recorded a kill to tie the set at 16-all.
Omaha couldn’t convert its first three match points, but with the crowd standing for the final dozen rallies, Cooper finally sent them home in a joyous mood.
“We really had to fight for every single point to stay afloat,” Slabe said. “I’m very happy that we were able to create such drama and a scenario in front of our people and actually pull it off in an extended game.”
The Supernovas wont’ have much time to bask in the victory as they travel to Grand Rapids for a match on Sunday afternoon.
