In both of the previous meetings this season, the Omaha Supernovas and Orlando Valkyries have gone the distance.
Despite dropping the first two sets, the Supernovas appeared to be poised to repeat history with a 17-12 lead in the third set. However, outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weide provided a spark for the Valkyries as they mounted a swift comeback to eliminate any hopes of a five-set match.
Orlando earned a 25-20, 25-17, 25-22 victory over the Supernovas in front of a crowd of 11,305 Sunday evening at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Orlando coach Amy Pauly credited Vander Weide for helping settle the Valkyries down, despite her first attack sailing long and only accounting for one point (a block). After Vander Weide’s initial error, Orlando (6-5) won eight of the next nine rallies to go up 20-18 and would eventually hand Omaha its second-straight home loss.
Omaha Supernovas middle blocker Kiara Reinhardt digs the ball against Orlando. Reinhard finished with two kills and one block. Photo by Brandon Tiedemann.
“It’s so hard to win here; it’s really hard to get a sweep,” Pauly said. “For a minute in that third set, you’re going, ‘All right, here we go.’ But they made a choice to step up and found ways to earn their own points, which was huge. We didn’t wait for them to make mistakes. We’ve been hungry for a sweep.”
The Valkyries’ rally in the third set capped off a miserable day on the court for Omaha, which fell to 7-5. The Supernovas recorded the lowest hitting percentage for the franchise at .063. The 28 assists and 31 kills were also the lowest in team history, and they racked up 28 hitting errors — 11 of which were unforced.
It is a drastic change from earlier this month when Omaha posted three of the four best hitting percentages in its history, including a .391 clip 10 days ago.
“We were off,” Omaha coach Luka Slabe said about the team’s offensive performance. “We always talk about improvements, and we were just not the cleanest, in general, in the last three, four days. I don’t think I have a great pulse (on why we lost). It just was one of the days where wheels fall off. We just got to continue learning from that, and find the rhythm back.”
The Valkyries swung aggressively and forced Omaha to play from behind for most of the match. Opposite Naya Shime led Orlando with 13 kills and three blocks. The Valkyries got big nights from both middle blockers as Kaz Brown added nine kills and four blocks while Bre Kelley recorded seven kills on nine swings to go with a pair of blocks.
Hannah Pukis earned her third start at setter in place of the injured Chompoo Guedpard and showed an improved connection with her hitters. The former Oregon Duck tallied 32 assists and 12 digs.
“We had a conversation last night about ‘Be yourself, right?’ Stop thinking so much and just go be Hannah from Oregon, who was a ball slinger and would take the risks and find her middles,” Pauly said. “She stepped into that role really well tonight. I’m really proud of her.”
The Supernovas tried numerous ways to find any semblance of offensive production, but nearly everyone struggled. Omaha managed to string three points in a row just twice during the first two sets. The Supernovas used six pin hitters, and none finished with a hitting percentage better than .286.
Brooke Nuneviller led the offense with 11 kills, but terminated at a .118 clip. Norah TeBrake put up six kills, and Sarah Parsons added three in one set of action. Emily Londot, Merritt Beason and Reagan Cooper combined for just one kill and six errors on 15 attacks. The middle blockers were not much better as they combined for seven kills and six errors on 21 swings.
TeBrake began the match on the bench, but provided a spark early in the second set. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter recorded three kills and a block to start the second set as the Supernovas went up 4-3 — their only lead during the first two sets.
Sydney Hilley goes for a set against Orlando on Sunday evening. Omaha finished with a franchise low for hitting percentage, kills and assists in the match. Photo by Brandon Tiedemann.
She also provided solid defense. She posted a 62% good passing percentage on a team-high 13 serve receptions. In the match, Omaha out-passed the Valkyries 45% to 38, but that advantage did not translate into more offense.
“This team plays the best when we’re playing with joy and fearlessness and just gritty energy,” TeBrake said. “We have to go out there and expect to be great and to play how we know we can play, and I don’t think that we’re doing that on a consistent basis. A little more swagger, I think, would help us.”
Even though the outside hitters struggled, Omaha didn’t get much offense from other positions early. The Supernovas went from 18-13 in the first set (Sydney Hilley) to 18-11 in the second set (Janice Leao), for a total of 43 points between kills from non-outside hitters.
Slabe mixed up the lineup in the third set with Parsons playing opposite. Omaha played its best volleyball of the match after the intermission. Hilley, who recorded 27 assists and nine digs, started the frame off with an ace. Omaha led 10-8 before the Valkyries responded with three straight points to go up by one.
The Supernovas went on a 7-1 run to give their fans hope of a reverse sweep. TeBrake notched a kill and block in the run, but Omaha couldn’t finish the set off and suffered its first sweep of the season.
“When teams punch us like that, we can’t look defeated,” Nuneviller said. “Every single one of us, on our face, including myself, at moments, looks defeated. There’s going to be matches where that’s the case, and you have to go out there, and something has to change in your energy. Even if you don’t feel it for the night, you have to fake it.”
Packed Pink Out
The Supernovas drew their second-largest crowd of the season with 11,305 fans, many of whom were wearing pink in support of the fight against cancer. The team honored several cancer survivors during breaks and showed a tribute on the video board.
The Omaha Supernovas get introduced during a major league volleyball match against the Orlando Valkyries. The theme for the match was a Pink Out to honor cancer survivors. Photo by Brandon Tiedemann.
Slabe thanked the fans for showing up and providing energy during the special occasion.
TeBrake, who earned a nursing degree from Creighton, said it was challenging not to get emotional after the first set when all the cancer survivors stood up, and other fans held up signs in honor of people in their lives who were fighting cancer.
She said Omaha assistant coach Thomas Robson reminded them that, for some people dealing with cancer, watching them play volleyball might be the most fun activity they get to do in a week or month.
“We are so blessed to have bodies that can work hard and come into the gym every day and feel good, and there are people that are so sick, and I think we often take our position for granted,” TeBrake said. “I think that’s such a good reminder and perspective. We’re playing a game, and, yeah, it’s a job. But there are also people fighting for their lives. So I think it’s so cool just to see how many people showed up.”
Hentz Traded to Grand Rapids
The Supernovas sent shockwave throughout the league when they announced on Friday evening that they traded two-time MLV Libero of the Year Morgan Hentz to the Grand Rapids Rise. In return, Omaha received libero Elena Oglivie and a 2026 first-round draft pick.
Both players moved quickly after the news was announced. Hentz flew to Grand Rapids on Saturday morning and recorded eight digs in the Rise’s sweep over Atlanta later that night.
Oglivie arrived in Omaha on Saturday. She participated in the Supernovas’ serve-and-pass practice on Sunday, but Slabe opted to play Allison Holder at libero against Orlando. Holder finished with nine digs and recorded a positive pass on 46% of her 11 service receptions.
Omaha libero Morgan Hentz dive for a save against the San Diego Mojo on Jan. 30. Hentz was traded on Friday to Grand Rapids for Elena Oglivie and a first-round draft pick. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Slabe said he isn’t dwelling on the trade too much. He said Oglivie can help them the rest of the season — not that they were unhappy with Hentz’s production, but she had been splitting time with Holder at libero for the previous four matches. He’s looking forward to working with Oglivie in the gym over week.
“I already moved on. It’s part of the business,” Slabe said. “We’re extremely happy for Morgan that she found a new home. We’re supportive. We wish her all the best, and she’s going to always be part of our family.”
Omaha will have more time to work Oglivie into their system as they have a week off between matches. The Supernovas next play at San Diego on Sunday, Feb. 22.
Nuneviller faced off against Oglivie in college when the outside hitter was at Oregon and Oglivie earned three Pac-12 Libero of the Year honors.
“She’s amazing. She’s going to help us a bunch,” Nuneviller said. “It’s always tough to lose a teammate, but Morgan seems like she’s super happy, and we’re excited for her too.”
