Don’t mind the barking from the San Diego bench — they’re just trying to play like dogs.
The Mojo adopted a “dog mentality” of fighting for every point and putting every ounce of energy into winning the match.
San Diego players often bark after big points to help remind each other of their theme for the year. They barked a lot in their 20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22 victory over the Omaha Supernovas on Sunday afternoon at the CHI Health Center.
“We’re dogs. That’s the word that we’ve been describing with the identity of our team,” Mojo middle blocker Rainelle Jones said.
Omaha (2-2) cruised in the first set after jumping out to a 6-2 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. The Supernovas switched up their starting lineup and inserted Ally Batenhorst at opposite. The 6-foot-5 rookie finished with 12 kills but only hit .150.
Omaha coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn said they are trying to find more offense from their right-side pin hitter to balance the offense instead of relying too much on the outside hitter.
“We wanted to try and see what would happen,” Kuhn said. “Offensively, she did well. It was a different look for our opponent. So we changed it up. We have the versatility to do things like that, so you’re probably going to see a lot of that stuff this year.”
Outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller led the team with 22 kills on 55 swings and 11 digs. Reagan Cooper added nine kills, and Lindsay Krause replaced her late in the third set. The former Husker had the most efficient night for Omaha, with six kills on eight errorless swings.
Krause, who recorded her first kill as a professional after appearing in the first three matches as a serving specialist, said she was grateful for any time she could get on the court.
“My number was called, and I was told to go in there and just take big rips. That’s what I’m good at. So I said, ‘Yes, ma’am,’” Krause said. “I went out there, did my best to add as much as I could to our team, as much energy, communication and fire.”
While Omaha was figuring out its lineup, San Diego (2-2) tried to mix things up by inserting outside hitter Jenaisya Moore into the match with the Mojo trailing 16-10 in the first set. Moore finished with eight kills and a 65 percent good pass percentage. They also switched in Lauren Page and Jones at middle blocker.
The moves paid off as San Diego picked up its play after the first set. After hitting .243 in the opening set, the Mojo terminated at a .400 clip for the rest of the match. Nine different players recorded a kill for San Diego, led by Kendra Dahlke’s 18 kills at a .356 hitting percentage. As a team, San Diego hit .356.
“We still have a young team, and we haven’t really tapped into our bench yet, so they haven’t been able to scout as many people. It’s just throwing them off,” Mojo coach Tayyiba Haneef-Park said. “They had some new people out there as well, so it just takes a minute to find the rhythm of each hitter. It just took them a while to figure out who some of our new studs are. “
Before the match, Mojo middle blocker Leyla Blackwell received a warm welcome from the crowd of 12,723—the second-largest in Omaha history. The former Husker finished with six kills on 10 swings.
Blackwell said she looked forward to this match and got emotional seeing her former teammates and being cheered on by the Nebraska crowd while playing for her hometown team.
“It just is so cool to be here with my new team and my new teammates, and having this new experience that I get to share with everyone and getting to be back,” she said. “It was so special. Every single time you play any volleyball in the state of Nebraska, the fans are going to love it, and it’s just a great environment.”
Sunday’s match was the Supernovas’ first home contest since they announced last week that they were splitting off to form a new league, Major League Volleyball, and that this would be their last season in the Pro Volleyball Federation. Nuneviller said it didn’t distract the players and staff despite the upheaval and uncertainty about next year.
“It was big news for a lot of people on the team, but it was big news for an hour, and then it’s like, ‘Oh, okay, that’s next year,’” Nuneviller said. “We’re really happy to be competing in this really strong league right now. Our only goal this year is to win a back-to-back championship.”
Kuhn agreed with the sentiment, saying they were aware of the release but quickly shifted to the on-court business. Since the announcement, they haven’t paid close attention to the news and social media discussion. However, with the Supernovas leaving the league and being the defending champions, they will be the best shot from every opponent.
“It’s gonna be a fun season,” Kuhn said. “There are great teams, and we’re excited to be part of it.”
