Five days after its worst outing of the season, Omaha relied on its depth to get back on track.
The Supernovas hit a season-low -.119 in a four-set loss to San Diego on Saturday, but took care of business against fifth-place Grand Rapids. Omaha earned a 25-16, 25-23, 26-24 sweep Thursday night in front of 8,577 fans at CHI Health Center.
Omaha coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn mixed up the lineup as Reagan Cooper returned to outside hitter after not playing in the past two matches. Middle blocker Phoebe Awoleye earned the first start of her professional career. Cooper finished with 10 kills and a .391 hitting percentage.
“I’m proud of this team and the response that we had coming off a tough road trip,” Kuhn said. “We talked about execution and making plays, that’s what it comes down to in any match that you’re going into. Their focus and execution were on par tonight, so I’m proud of that.”
Omaha Supernova Phoebe Awoleye (left) spikes the ball against Grand Rapids. Awoleye earned her first start of the year and recorded five kills. Photo by John S. Peterson.
The Supernovas (17-6) came out sharp and turned a 4-3 lead into a 19-8 advantage in the first set by winning nearly all the scramble plays. Opposite Kelsie Payne recorded three of her eight kills in the run while Awoleye chipped in a pair of kills. The rookie from Minnesota doubled her season total with five kills in the match and added two blocks.
“It was just going in attack mode. Obviously, I’m going to be nervous, but nerves are good. It just means that you care,” Awoleye said. “It was just okay, let those nerves go away and attack and just do what I do every day at practice.”
The Supernovas hit .364 in the first set and were not seriously challenged, even though Grand Rapids made the score look a tad better as it fended off four set points.
The second set was much tighter as neither team took more than a two-point lead until the Supernovas scored four in a row to go up 16-12. Grand Rapids closed the gap to one point, but Nuneviller scored five of Omaha’s final seven points to close the door.
Nuneviller finished tied for the team lead with 10 kills and also recorded two blocks and two aces. She said even though the Supernovas have secured their spot in the postseason, they are trying to build momentum and confidence during the last few weeks of the regular season.
“It’s this point of the season where people can decide what they want to do. Where a team can decide if they want to be great or if they want to let the little injuries, if they want to let the soreness, if they want to let the ‘Oh, I want a break,’ get to them, and this team doesn’t let that happen,” she said. “Every single day, we come in and we want to get better. At the end of the day, we want to try to repeat that championship. We’ll take it one match at a time, but we’re always excited to get back in the gym and try to get better.”
Omaha dominated the early stages of the third set and led 16-10 at the media timeout. Kuhn then swapped her lineup, inserting outside hitters Ally Batenhorst and Lindsay Krause, middle blockers Kayla Caffey and Toyosi Onabanjo, opposite hitter Emily Londot and setter Mac Podraza.
Kuhn said they’ve discussed the line change as a coaching staff and should have tried it while they were struggling in San Diego to alter the energy, but held off. She said if they got up seven points against Grand Rapids, they were going to go for it.
Omaha played a little sluggish at times, which allowed the Rise to rally. They scored five points in a row to tie the set at 23-all. After a pair of side outs, Omaha ended the match as Podraza terminated an over-the-shoulder dump and Londot powered home the final kill of the match.
Omaha Supernova Emily Londot (27) spikes the ball against the Grand Rapids Rise in the third set. Londot was part of six-player line change by the Supernovas in the third set and recorded the kill on match point. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Even though the end was tighter than she hoped, Kuhn said she was willing to give the substitutes some grace, considering they had been standing on the sidelines for more than two sets.
“We trust this whole team, and we talk about that all the time,” she said. “We tell them all the time how much our training translates, and everyone needs to be ready. And in that moment, I actually liked it, because there’s no part of me that’s going to question whether or not I believe in any of these players. We see them train. We see how they compete every day in the gym.”
No one on Grand Rapids finished with double-digit points. Erika Prichard, who started the match on the bench, led the Rise with six kills and two blocks. Grand Rapids hit .089 for the match, its second-lowest percentage this season. The Rise fell to 10-14 and trails Indy by 2.5 games with four matches remaining. They will face off on Saturday in Grand Rapids.
The Supernovas will host the league’s No. 2 team, Atlanta, on Saturday evening. The Vibe have won 10 matches in a row, but is 0-2 against Omaha this year, with their last meeting more than two months ago.
Nuneviller said she is looking forward to the challenge.
“I’m really confident in where we are right now, and I’m excited to get an opportunity to be better and for them to hopefully test us,” she said. “I want them to be hot, and I want to beat them at their best, and I think it’s going to be a really exciting match. It always is.”
