Mavs Hit the Road for Iowa State Challenge
Sep 3, 2014 | Volleyball
This Weekend
The Omaha volleyball team hits the road this weekend, traveling to the Iowa State Challenge, Sept. 4-6, in Ames, Iowa. Action kicks off on Thursday against ISU at 6:30 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum, followed by a 4 p.m. match on Friday against Northern Illinois and the finale on Saturday against Tennessee at 6:30 p.m. Links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Iowa State Challenge Schedule Set
The schedule for this weekend's Iowa State Challenge has been set, and it includes six matches for four teams over three days. Home teams for each match are the first team listed.
Thursday, Sept. 4
Iowa State vs. Omaha (6:30 p.m.)
Friday, Sept. 5
Northern Illinois vs. Tennessee (11 a.m.)
Omaha vs. Northern Illinois (4 p.m.)
Iowa State vs. Tennessee (6:30 p.m.)
Saturday, Sept. 6
Iowa State vs. Northern Illinois (4:30 p.m.)
Tennessee vs. Omaha (6:30 p.m.)
Scouting the Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State enters the weekend with a record of 0-2 (0-0 Big 12) after being swept by Stanford and Florida State in the AVCA Showcase. Head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch enters her 10th year with the Cyclones in 2014, carrying a career mark of 190-93 after leading Iowa State to the 2013 NCAA Tournament last season.
ISU has two preseason All-Big 12 picks in junior rightside hitter Mackenzie Bigbee and senior outside hitter Victoria Hurtt. Bigbee was also a first-team all-conference selection, earned AVCA All-America honorable mention status and ranked sixth in the league with 3.21 kills per set in 2013.
The all-time series between Omaha and Iowa State is tied at 4-4. The two squads last faced each other on Sept. 18, 1990, when UNO won 3-2.
Scouting the Northern Illinois Huskies
Northern Illinois enters the weekend with a record of 1-2 (0-0 MAC) after last weekend's NIU Invitational. The Huskies won their opener against Presbyterian, 3-1, then dropped a 3-2 loss to Colorado and a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Northwestern. Head coach Ray Gooden is in his 13th season at the helm of the NIU program, and he holds a career record of 225-166.
Senior Mackenzie Roddy was named to the Preseason All-MAC West team after earning first-team all-conference accolades in 2013. After last weekend's season opener, Roddy was honored as the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week, as she averaged 4.58 kills and 2.75 digs per set with a .375 attack percentage at the NIU Invitational.
Northern Illinois leads all-time series against Omaha, 1-0. The Huskies won the most recent meeting with a 3-0 sweep in Springfield, Mo., on Sept. 7, 2012.
Scouting the Tennessee Lady Vols
Tennessee enters the weekend with a record of 2-1 (0-0 SEC) after opening the season at the Appalachian Invitational. The Lady Vols defeated Tennessee Tech, 3-0, and Cleveland State, 3-1, before a 3-0 loss to Appalachian State. Head coach Rob Patrick is in his 18th season in Knoxville, holding a career mark of 353-186. UT returns five starters from its 2013 squad.
This weekend marks the first meeting all-time between Omaha and Tennessee.
Quick Hits
•Junior outside hitter Kelley Wollak was named to the all-tournament team for last weekend's DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Omaha Classic after averaging a team-best 3.50 kills and 3.79 digs per set.
•With its 216 attacks against Drake last weekend, UNO totaled over 200 attacks in a single match for the first time since Oct. 5, 2011. The Mavericks also had over 100 digs for the first time since Oct. 1, 2011, finishing with 101 against DU.
•Wollak's 21 kills against the Bulldogs were the most for a Maverick since Natalie Ebke had 24 versus Fort Wayne on Oct. 5, 2011.
•Omaha was picked to finish ninth in the 2014 Summit League Preseason Poll released by the conference office.
•Junior middle blocker Megan Schmale was Omaha's first Division I all-conference pick, earning All-Summit honorable mention status last season. A native of Murdock, Neb., she led the conference in blocking and ranked in the top 100 nationally for blocks per set. Schmale also earned Academic All-Summit accolades for the first time.
•Junior Michaela Schimmer's nine double-doubles and two triple-doubles led the Mavericks in 2013.
What Makes Up the Mavericks
•Omaha returns 10 letterwinners from the 2013 season, including five juniors with starting experience: defensive specialist/libero Kimberly Bailey, middle blockers Diane Banderas and Megan Schmale, setter/rightside hitter Michaela Schimmer and outside hitter Kelley Wollak.
•UNO returns 86 percent of its total offensive production from last season, as this year's returners accounted for 948 of the Mavericks' 1,099 kills.
•Omaha lost just two letterwinners from the 2013 squad, setter Bailey Baxter (5.02 assists and 0.38 service aces per set) and middle blocker Kristy Wieser (1.45 kills and 0.32 blocks per set).
•UNO's top returning hitter is Wollak, who averaged 2.58 kills per set last year. At the net, Schmale returns after leading the Summit League with 1.16 blocks per set.
•The Mavericks are made up of five freshmen, one redshirt freshman, two sophomores, six juniors and two seniors.
League Leaders
Omaha claims three of the top five blockers in the Summit League after the opening weekend. Junior middle blocker Diane Banderas leads the conference with 1.29 blocks per set, while junior middle blocker Megan Schmale is second (1.21), and junior setter/rightside hitter Michaela Schimmer is fifth (1.14). Banderas and Schmale both accounted for the single-match tournament high for individual blocks. Schmale had nine against CMU, while Banderas had nine against UMKC.
As a team, the Mavericks are second in the league with 2.57 blocks per set.
Triple Trouble
Junior Michaela Schimmer tallied her fifth career triple-double during last season's Nov. 15 matchup with South Dakota, finishing with 12 kills, 26 assists and 20 digs. With her three triple-doubles as a freshman in 2012 and two more last season, Schimmer has accounted for the last five triple-doubles in Maverick history. Prior to her, the last triple-double came from Krista Niezwaag in 1999.
The High School All-America Duo
Omaha's five-member freshman class is highlighted by a pair of high school All-Americans as named by PrepVolleyball.com: setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy and outside hitter Mackenzie Horkey. O' Shaughnessy, from Omaha Marian High School, helped the Crusaders to the Class A state title in 2013 and was honorary captain of the Omaha World-Herald's All-State Team. Horkey was a three-time all-state pick at Southwest Christian High School and also won a state championship in 2013 with her team.
2013-14 Squad Earns 15th Straight AVCA Academic Award
UNO earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 15th straight year and the 18th time overall, it was announced in July. As a team, the Mavericks recorded a 3.65 GPA during the 2013-14 academic year to garner the annual honor.
The award, which was initiated in 1992-93, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that have displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale. Omaha was among 138 Division I women's squads to meet the academic standards last year.
Shires Guides Mavericks as Winningest Coach in School History
Head coach Rose Shires is the all-time winningest coach in 44 years of UNO volleyball history. In her 25th year at the helm of the Maverick program, Shires owns a career record of 443-313 (.586), with the most wins of the five coaches who have served at Omaha.
The 1996 AVCA National Coach of the Year and a two-time conference coach of the year, Shires has enjoyed tremendous success as UNO's guide. The 1996 campaign saw her lead UNO to a national championship as well as its first North Central Conference championship since 1987, followed by an Elite Eight appearance in 1997. In NCAA Tournament play, Shires' squads have combined for 11 appearances and a 10-10 postseason mark.
Shires is assisted by associate head coach Karen Povondra, who is in her 24th season with UNO, and assistant coach Tanya Cate, who is in her fifth year on the Maverick staff.
Fresh Faces
The Mavericks have welcomed five true freshmen to the roster this season: setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy (Omaha, Neb.), defensive specialists Marisa Moseman (Hickman, Neb.) and Aftyn Johnson (Lincoln, Neb.), libero Emily Leichner (Omaha, Neb.) and outside hitter Mackenzie Horkey (Jordan, Minn.).
O'Shaughnessy was an all-state selection at Omaha Marian, where she helped the Crusaders to the 2013 Class A state championship and was named a high school All-American by PrepVolleyball.com. Horkey, also an All-America pick by PrepVolleyball.com, was a three-time all-state player at Southwest Christian High School, which won a state title in her senior year.
Leichner, a product of Millard West, was Nebraska's Class A leader in digs per set as a senior, when she helped the Wildcats to a state runner-up finish. Moseman joins the Mavericks from Norris High School, where she was a second-team all-state honoree and helped Norris to a Class B state title. Johnson, who comes from Lincoln Southwest, was part a Silver Hawk program that won four consecutive district championships.
Mixed Schedule Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2013 schedule includes 29 matches against 21 different opponents, and the team has played in 10 states across the country. UNO have squared off with opponents from 10 different conferences. Two foes -- IUPUI and Iowa State were 2013 NCAA Tournament qualifiers. The Jags were dropped 3-0 by Missouri in the first round, while the Cyclones lost 3-1 to Colorado in the first round.
The Mavericks have never faced five of their 2014 opponents: Central Michigan, Tennessee, Canisius, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Boise State. Omaha holds a combined all-time record of 151-112-2 over all teams on the slate this season.
No Longer the Newcomers
Omaha is in its fourth and final year as a reclassifying Division I school in 2014-15 and its third as a member of the Summit League. In 2013, the Mavericks went 2-12 in conference play, picking up a 3-0 sweep of North Dakota State and a 3-2 win over South Dakota, both at Sapp Fieldhouse.
UNO is ineligible for the league tournament and NCAA postseason play until 2015-16 but will play a full regular-season conference schedule in its last transitional year.
Up Next
Omaha returns to action next weekend at the Billiken Invitational hosted by Saint Louis, Sept. 12-13, in St. Louis, Mo. The Mavericks face SLU on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by Saturday matches with Air Force at 10 a.m. and Canisius at 4:30 p.m. Links to live stats will be available on OMavs.com.
The Omaha volleyball team hits the road this weekend, traveling to the Iowa State Challenge, Sept. 4-6, in Ames, Iowa. Action kicks off on Thursday against ISU at 6:30 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum, followed by a 4 p.m. match on Friday against Northern Illinois and the finale on Saturday against Tennessee at 6:30 p.m. Links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Iowa State Challenge Schedule Set
The schedule for this weekend's Iowa State Challenge has been set, and it includes six matches for four teams over three days. Home teams for each match are the first team listed.
Thursday, Sept. 4
Iowa State vs. Omaha (6:30 p.m.)
Friday, Sept. 5
Northern Illinois vs. Tennessee (11 a.m.)
Omaha vs. Northern Illinois (4 p.m.)
Iowa State vs. Tennessee (6:30 p.m.)
Saturday, Sept. 6
Iowa State vs. Northern Illinois (4:30 p.m.)
Tennessee vs. Omaha (6:30 p.m.)
Scouting the Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State enters the weekend with a record of 0-2 (0-0 Big 12) after being swept by Stanford and Florida State in the AVCA Showcase. Head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch enters her 10th year with the Cyclones in 2014, carrying a career mark of 190-93 after leading Iowa State to the 2013 NCAA Tournament last season.
ISU has two preseason All-Big 12 picks in junior rightside hitter Mackenzie Bigbee and senior outside hitter Victoria Hurtt. Bigbee was also a first-team all-conference selection, earned AVCA All-America honorable mention status and ranked sixth in the league with 3.21 kills per set in 2013.
The all-time series between Omaha and Iowa State is tied at 4-4. The two squads last faced each other on Sept. 18, 1990, when UNO won 3-2.
Scouting the Northern Illinois Huskies
Northern Illinois enters the weekend with a record of 1-2 (0-0 MAC) after last weekend's NIU Invitational. The Huskies won their opener against Presbyterian, 3-1, then dropped a 3-2 loss to Colorado and a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Northwestern. Head coach Ray Gooden is in his 13th season at the helm of the NIU program, and he holds a career record of 225-166.
Senior Mackenzie Roddy was named to the Preseason All-MAC West team after earning first-team all-conference accolades in 2013. After last weekend's season opener, Roddy was honored as the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week, as she averaged 4.58 kills and 2.75 digs per set with a .375 attack percentage at the NIU Invitational.
Northern Illinois leads all-time series against Omaha, 1-0. The Huskies won the most recent meeting with a 3-0 sweep in Springfield, Mo., on Sept. 7, 2012.
Scouting the Tennessee Lady Vols
Tennessee enters the weekend with a record of 2-1 (0-0 SEC) after opening the season at the Appalachian Invitational. The Lady Vols defeated Tennessee Tech, 3-0, and Cleveland State, 3-1, before a 3-0 loss to Appalachian State. Head coach Rob Patrick is in his 18th season in Knoxville, holding a career mark of 353-186. UT returns five starters from its 2013 squad.
This weekend marks the first meeting all-time between Omaha and Tennessee.
Quick Hits
•Junior outside hitter Kelley Wollak was named to the all-tournament team for last weekend's DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Omaha Classic after averaging a team-best 3.50 kills and 3.79 digs per set.
•With its 216 attacks against Drake last weekend, UNO totaled over 200 attacks in a single match for the first time since Oct. 5, 2011. The Mavericks also had over 100 digs for the first time since Oct. 1, 2011, finishing with 101 against DU.
•Wollak's 21 kills against the Bulldogs were the most for a Maverick since Natalie Ebke had 24 versus Fort Wayne on Oct. 5, 2011.
•Omaha was picked to finish ninth in the 2014 Summit League Preseason Poll released by the conference office.
•Junior middle blocker Megan Schmale was Omaha's first Division I all-conference pick, earning All-Summit honorable mention status last season. A native of Murdock, Neb., she led the conference in blocking and ranked in the top 100 nationally for blocks per set. Schmale also earned Academic All-Summit accolades for the first time.
•Junior Michaela Schimmer's nine double-doubles and two triple-doubles led the Mavericks in 2013.
What Makes Up the Mavericks
•Omaha returns 10 letterwinners from the 2013 season, including five juniors with starting experience: defensive specialist/libero Kimberly Bailey, middle blockers Diane Banderas and Megan Schmale, setter/rightside hitter Michaela Schimmer and outside hitter Kelley Wollak.
•UNO returns 86 percent of its total offensive production from last season, as this year's returners accounted for 948 of the Mavericks' 1,099 kills.
•Omaha lost just two letterwinners from the 2013 squad, setter Bailey Baxter (5.02 assists and 0.38 service aces per set) and middle blocker Kristy Wieser (1.45 kills and 0.32 blocks per set).
•UNO's top returning hitter is Wollak, who averaged 2.58 kills per set last year. At the net, Schmale returns after leading the Summit League with 1.16 blocks per set.
•The Mavericks are made up of five freshmen, one redshirt freshman, two sophomores, six juniors and two seniors.
League Leaders
Omaha claims three of the top five blockers in the Summit League after the opening weekend. Junior middle blocker Diane Banderas leads the conference with 1.29 blocks per set, while junior middle blocker Megan Schmale is second (1.21), and junior setter/rightside hitter Michaela Schimmer is fifth (1.14). Banderas and Schmale both accounted for the single-match tournament high for individual blocks. Schmale had nine against CMU, while Banderas had nine against UMKC.
As a team, the Mavericks are second in the league with 2.57 blocks per set.
Triple Trouble
Junior Michaela Schimmer tallied her fifth career triple-double during last season's Nov. 15 matchup with South Dakota, finishing with 12 kills, 26 assists and 20 digs. With her three triple-doubles as a freshman in 2012 and two more last season, Schimmer has accounted for the last five triple-doubles in Maverick history. Prior to her, the last triple-double came from Krista Niezwaag in 1999.
The High School All-America Duo
Omaha's five-member freshman class is highlighted by a pair of high school All-Americans as named by PrepVolleyball.com: setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy and outside hitter Mackenzie Horkey. O' Shaughnessy, from Omaha Marian High School, helped the Crusaders to the Class A state title in 2013 and was honorary captain of the Omaha World-Herald's All-State Team. Horkey was a three-time all-state pick at Southwest Christian High School and also won a state championship in 2013 with her team.
2013-14 Squad Earns 15th Straight AVCA Academic Award
UNO earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 15th straight year and the 18th time overall, it was announced in July. As a team, the Mavericks recorded a 3.65 GPA during the 2013-14 academic year to garner the annual honor.
The award, which was initiated in 1992-93, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that have displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale. Omaha was among 138 Division I women's squads to meet the academic standards last year.
Shires Guides Mavericks as Winningest Coach in School History
Head coach Rose Shires is the all-time winningest coach in 44 years of UNO volleyball history. In her 25th year at the helm of the Maverick program, Shires owns a career record of 443-313 (.586), with the most wins of the five coaches who have served at Omaha.
The 1996 AVCA National Coach of the Year and a two-time conference coach of the year, Shires has enjoyed tremendous success as UNO's guide. The 1996 campaign saw her lead UNO to a national championship as well as its first North Central Conference championship since 1987, followed by an Elite Eight appearance in 1997. In NCAA Tournament play, Shires' squads have combined for 11 appearances and a 10-10 postseason mark.
Shires is assisted by associate head coach Karen Povondra, who is in her 24th season with UNO, and assistant coach Tanya Cate, who is in her fifth year on the Maverick staff.
Fresh Faces
The Mavericks have welcomed five true freshmen to the roster this season: setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy (Omaha, Neb.), defensive specialists Marisa Moseman (Hickman, Neb.) and Aftyn Johnson (Lincoln, Neb.), libero Emily Leichner (Omaha, Neb.) and outside hitter Mackenzie Horkey (Jordan, Minn.).
O'Shaughnessy was an all-state selection at Omaha Marian, where she helped the Crusaders to the 2013 Class A state championship and was named a high school All-American by PrepVolleyball.com. Horkey, also an All-America pick by PrepVolleyball.com, was a three-time all-state player at Southwest Christian High School, which won a state title in her senior year.
Leichner, a product of Millard West, was Nebraska's Class A leader in digs per set as a senior, when she helped the Wildcats to a state runner-up finish. Moseman joins the Mavericks from Norris High School, where she was a second-team all-state honoree and helped Norris to a Class B state title. Johnson, who comes from Lincoln Southwest, was part a Silver Hawk program that won four consecutive district championships.
Mixed Schedule Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2013 schedule includes 29 matches against 21 different opponents, and the team has played in 10 states across the country. UNO have squared off with opponents from 10 different conferences. Two foes -- IUPUI and Iowa State were 2013 NCAA Tournament qualifiers. The Jags were dropped 3-0 by Missouri in the first round, while the Cyclones lost 3-1 to Colorado in the first round.
The Mavericks have never faced five of their 2014 opponents: Central Michigan, Tennessee, Canisius, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Boise State. Omaha holds a combined all-time record of 151-112-2 over all teams on the slate this season.
No Longer the Newcomers
Omaha is in its fourth and final year as a reclassifying Division I school in 2014-15 and its third as a member of the Summit League. In 2013, the Mavericks went 2-12 in conference play, picking up a 3-0 sweep of North Dakota State and a 3-2 win over South Dakota, both at Sapp Fieldhouse.
UNO is ineligible for the league tournament and NCAA postseason play until 2015-16 but will play a full regular-season conference schedule in its last transitional year.
Up Next
Omaha returns to action next weekend at the Billiken Invitational hosted by Saint Louis, Sept. 12-13, in St. Louis, Mo. The Mavericks face SLU on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by Saturday matches with Air Force at 10 a.m. and Canisius at 4:30 p.m. Links to live stats will be available on OMavs.com.
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
L
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
S/RS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballTuesday, September 01
Wednesday, August 26
Friday, August 21
Tuesday, April 21
