Mavericks Welcome Jacks for Friday Tilt
Nov 4, 2015 | Volleyball
This Weekend
The Omaha volleyball team hosts one match at Sapp Fieldhouse this weekend, welcoming South Dakota State on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. Jon Green will have the call of the action, and links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
•The Mavericks have won five straight matches since Oct. 29. The last time Omaha won five straight matches was 2010.
•Omaha leads the Summit League in digs (1,656), digs per set (17.07) and total attacks (3,649) and also ranks second in block assists (369) and third in total blocks (212), blocks per set (2.18), aces (125) and aces per set (1.29).
•Senior middle blocker Megan Schmale tops the league in blocks per set (1.28), total blocks (124) and block assists (114) and is third in hitting percentage (.326). O'Shaughnessy ranks second for assists (961) and third for assists per set (9.91) and aces (32).
•Schmale's 428 assisted blocks have her at third on UNO's all-time career block assists chart. She needs eight more to match Ruth Evans (1985-88) for the school record of 436.
•Sophomore setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy had a team-leading 19 double-doubles in her freshman campaign. Through 25 matches this season, she leads the squad again with 17 double-doubles.
•O'Shaughnessy registered five aces in Omaha's win over North Dakota State on Oct. 23, the most of any Maverick in over three years. The last player with five aces in a match was Natalie Ebke, who also achieved the feat against North Dakota State on Sept. 15, 2012.
•UNO's six seniors on the roster mark the most since 2009.
•Omaha was picked to finish sixth in the 2015 Summit League Preseason Poll, its highest place in the poll since joining the conference in 2012.
•The Mavericks have registered five sweeps in 2015, coming against Seton Hall, Bradley, Oral Roberts, Denver and Western Illinois.
Scouting the South Dakota State Jackrabbits
South Dakota State brings a record of 4-24 (3-9 Summit League) into the weekend after a 3-0 sweep of Fort Wayne last Sunday, which snapped its four-match losing skid. Head coach Nicole Cirillo is in her first year at SDSU, holding a career record of 4-24.
Omaha leads the all-time series with South Dakota State, 37-19. The Mavericks won the first meeting this season, 3-1 in Brookings, S.D., on Sept. 25 and have won three straight games since 2014.
Last Time Out: Mavericks Dominant in Senior Day Sweep
Omaha celebrated Senior Day and its debut at Baxter Arena Sunday afternoon, sweeping Western Illinois 3-0. The sweep extended UNO's win streak to five matches, its longest since earning five straight wins in 2010.
Senior rightside hitter Michaela Schimmer paced UNO with 10 kills while adding two blocks. Senior middle blocker Amy Taylor was close behind with nine kills on a .500 attack effort alongside a match-high six blocks.
Senior middle blocker Megan Schmale matched Taylor with nine kills of her own and added two aces and two blocks. Schmale now sits just nine block assists from breaking the school record held by Ruth Evans (1985-88), who had 436.
Sophomore setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy finished just shy of a double-double with a match-leading 35 assists and nine digs, along with three kills and two blocks. Senior libero Kimberly Bailey led the Mavericks defensively with a match-high 25 digs as well as a season-high eight assists, and freshman outside hitter Gessica Gdowski also put together a solid effort, totaling eight kills, eight digs and three blocks.
As a team, Omaha hit .240 to WIU's .061 and outblocked the Leathernecks 9-6. Western was led by Peyton Crosser, who finished with team highs of eight kills and four blocks.
Bailey Named Summit League Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Senior libero Kimberly Bailey was named Summit League Co-Defensive Player of the Week for her performance the week of Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, the league office announced Monday. It was the first weekly conference award of her career.
Bailey averaged 7.57 digs per set for the week, helping Omaha defeat South Dakota on the road, 3-1, and Western Illinois at home, 3-0, to extend the Mavericks' win streak to five matches. The Lincoln, Neb., native had a match-high 28 digs against USD, as well as a match-leading 25 digs with a season-high eight assists against WIU.
Bailey is the first Omaha player to earn a Summit League Defensive Player of the Week award since the Mavs joined the conference in 2011-12. She ranks fourth in the league with 4.35 digs per set this season.
Denver's Cassidy Rooke joined Bailey as Co-Defensive Player of the Week, while Laura Milos of Oral Roberts was honored as Offensive Player of the Week.
O'Shaughnessy Races Into Top 10 Assists List
Sophomore setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy etched her name into the UNO record books two weeks ago. Less than two years into her career, she ranks 10th in school history for career assists, having amassed 1,901 since joining the program in 2014. The Omaha native passed former Maverick Cheri Pribyl, who had 1,768 from 1995 to 1998, and currently sits behind Katie Agnew (2004-07), who totaled 2,359 during her run at UNO.
Bailey Climbing Career Digs Chart
Senior libero Kimberly Bailey joined UNO's top 10 for career digs on Sept. 26, and she is now seventh on the list with 1,438 digs over the last three-plus seasons. Last weekend, she tied former Maverick and current volunteer assistant coach Tanya Cate (1994-97) and sits behind Amy Steffel (1993-96), who had 1,463 digs for sixth.
Bailey also ranks fourth in the Summit League this season for total digs (422) and digs per set (4.35), and she owns 10 performances with 20 or more digs in a match.
Mavericks Making Their Mark Nationally
Omaha officially ranks among the top 40 nationally in four categories, coming in at 20th for digs per set (17.07) and attacks per set (37.62), 22nd for total digs (1,656) and 30th for total attacks (3,649). Individually, senior middle blocker Megan Schmale is 12th in the country for total blocks (124) and 38th for blocks per set (1.28), while sophomore setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy is 40th for total assists (961).
Schmale Surges Into Career Top Five for Block Assists
Senior middle blocker Megan Schmale entered the top 10 in school history for career block assists earlier this season and has moved up to third on the list since then. After her combined 11 assisted blocks against South Dakota and Western Illinois, Schmale has 428 in three-and-a-half years, making her only the fourth Maverick to register 400 or more assisted stops.
Schmale's next targets are Kathy Knudsen (1982-85), who is second with 435, and Ruth Evans (1985-88), the all-time leader with 436.
Wollak Joins 1,000 Kill Club
On Sept. 11, senior outside hitter Kelley Wollak became the 19th player in program history -- and the first in the Division I era -- to pass the 1,000 career kills milestone. She hit No. 1,000 just two plays into the third set against SIUE.
Omaha last added players to the 1,000 Kill Club in 2009, when Kelli Goeser (2006-09) finished her career with 1,058 and Ellen Thommes (2006-09) closed with 1,282. Over her Maverick career, Wollak has compiled 1,129 kills in just over three seasons.
What Makes Up the Mavericks
•Omaha returns 11 letterwinners from the 2014 season, including seven in the starting lineup: libero Kimberly Bailey, middle blockers Diane Banderas and Megan Schmale, setter/rightside hitter Michaela Schimmer, setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy and outside hitters Kelley Wollak and Mackenzie Horkey.
•UNO returns 98 percent of its total offensive production from last season, as this year's returners accounted for 1,470 of the Mavericks' 1,495 kills.
•The Mavs also return 98 percent of their total blocking production from last year, with the returners credited for 287.5 out of 292.5 stops.
•Omaha lost four letterwinners from the 2014 squad in graduated seniors Jessy Schroedter and Rachelle Kruml, along with defensive specialists Marisa Moseman and Aftyn Johnson.
•Wollak is UNO's top returning hitter, having averaged 3.24 kills per set last year. At the net, Amanda Conlin had a team-high 1.16 blocks per set, and Schmale had 1.14 blocks per set.
•O'Shaughnessy and Horkey were both named to the Summit League All-Freshmen team at the end of 2014.
•The Mavericks are made up of four freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and six seniors.
•Schmale was Omaha's first Division I all-conference pick in 2013, earning All-Summit honorable mention status. She led the conference in blocking and ranked in the top 100 nationally for blocks per set. Schmale also earned Academic All-Summit accolades, which she repeated in 2014.
Shires Guides Mavericks as Winningest Coach in School History
Head coach Rose Shires is the all-time winningest coach in 45 years of UNO volleyball history. In her 26th year at the helm of the Maverick program, Shires owns a career record of 470-341 (.580), 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 25th season with UNO, assistant coach Elena Pietro, in her first year, and volunteer assistant coach Tanya Cate, who is in her sixth year on the Maverick staff.
Mixed Schedule Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2015 schedule includes 20 matches against 21 different opponents, and the team will play in 10 states across the country. UNO will square off with opponents from 10 different conferences, with three from the Missouri Valley, two from the Mountain West and once each from the American Athletic, BIG EAST, Big West, Big Sky, MAC, OVC, Southland and the WAC. Three foes -- Seton Hall, Central Florida and Denver -- were 2014 NCAA Tournament qualifiers.
Entering 2015, the Mavericks had never faced five of their 2015 opponents: Seton Hall, UNLV, Central Arkansas, Central Florida and San Jose State. Omaha currently holds a combined all-time record of 209-142-1 over all teams on the slate this season.
Freshman Foursome
The Mavericks have welcomed four true freshmen to the roster this season: defensive specialist Jessica Plake (Kansas City, Kan.), rightside hitter Meagen Roth (Lincoln, Neb.) and outside hitters Kayla Torson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and Gessica Gdowski (Fremont, Neb.).
Plake was a two-time all-state selection at Bishop Miege High School, where she helped the Stags to three state championships. Torson was a three-time all-state player at Xavier High School. Roth, a product of Lincoln Southeast High School, twice earned All-Nebraska honors and was part of three consecutive district championship teams, while Gdowski was a three-time all-state honorable mention pick at Fremont High School.
Plake, Gdowski and Torson have seen playing time so far this year, with Gdowski starting five matches since Oct. 20.
Summit League Preseason Poll Announced
Omaha was picked to finish sixth in the 2015 Summit League Preseason Poll released by the conference office on Aug. 20. The poll was determined by a vote of the league's head coaches.
Defending league champion Denver was tabbed as the league favorite after collecting seven first-place votes. IUPUI came in second, and North Dakota State was third. Oral Roberts was picked fourth, and South Dakota followed in fifth. Omaha tied for sixth with Fort Wayne, while South Dakota State and Western Illinois rounded out the poll in eighth and ninth, respectively.
Triple Trouble
Senior Michaela Schimmer has accounted for the last five triple-doubles in Omaha volleyball history. She tallied her fifth career triple-double on Nov. 15, 2013 vs. South Dakota, finishing with 12 kills, 26 assists and 20 digs. Schimmer had three triple-doubles as a freshman in 2012 and two more in 2013. Prior to her, the last triple-double came from Krista Niezwaag in 1999.
No Longer the Newcomers
In 2015-16, Omaha is in its first year as a Division I institution with full Summit League and NCAA postseason eligibility. The Mavericks competed the last four seasons as a reclassifying Division I school, and they officially joined the Summit League in 2012. During the reclassification period, UNO was ineligible for the league tournament and NCAA postseason play, but played a full regular-season conference schedule in its last three transitional years.
Next Up
Omaha returns to action next Tuesday, Nov. 10, hosting Oral Roberts for the Mavericks' final home match of the season. The contest is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
The Omaha volleyball team hosts one match at Sapp Fieldhouse this weekend, welcoming South Dakota State on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. Jon Green will have the call of the action, and links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
•The Mavericks have won five straight matches since Oct. 29. The last time Omaha won five straight matches was 2010.
•Omaha leads the Summit League in digs (1,656), digs per set (17.07) and total attacks (3,649) and also ranks second in block assists (369) and third in total blocks (212), blocks per set (2.18), aces (125) and aces per set (1.29).
•Senior middle blocker Megan Schmale tops the league in blocks per set (1.28), total blocks (124) and block assists (114) and is third in hitting percentage (.326). O'Shaughnessy ranks second for assists (961) and third for assists per set (9.91) and aces (32).
•Schmale's 428 assisted blocks have her at third on UNO's all-time career block assists chart. She needs eight more to match Ruth Evans (1985-88) for the school record of 436.
•Sophomore setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy had a team-leading 19 double-doubles in her freshman campaign. Through 25 matches this season, she leads the squad again with 17 double-doubles.
•O'Shaughnessy registered five aces in Omaha's win over North Dakota State on Oct. 23, the most of any Maverick in over three years. The last player with five aces in a match was Natalie Ebke, who also achieved the feat against North Dakota State on Sept. 15, 2012.
•UNO's six seniors on the roster mark the most since 2009.
•Omaha was picked to finish sixth in the 2015 Summit League Preseason Poll, its highest place in the poll since joining the conference in 2012.
•The Mavericks have registered five sweeps in 2015, coming against Seton Hall, Bradley, Oral Roberts, Denver and Western Illinois.
Scouting the South Dakota State Jackrabbits
South Dakota State brings a record of 4-24 (3-9 Summit League) into the weekend after a 3-0 sweep of Fort Wayne last Sunday, which snapped its four-match losing skid. Head coach Nicole Cirillo is in her first year at SDSU, holding a career record of 4-24.
Omaha leads the all-time series with South Dakota State, 37-19. The Mavericks won the first meeting this season, 3-1 in Brookings, S.D., on Sept. 25 and have won three straight games since 2014.
Last Time Out: Mavericks Dominant in Senior Day Sweep
Omaha celebrated Senior Day and its debut at Baxter Arena Sunday afternoon, sweeping Western Illinois 3-0. The sweep extended UNO's win streak to five matches, its longest since earning five straight wins in 2010.
Senior rightside hitter Michaela Schimmer paced UNO with 10 kills while adding two blocks. Senior middle blocker Amy Taylor was close behind with nine kills on a .500 attack effort alongside a match-high six blocks.
Senior middle blocker Megan Schmale matched Taylor with nine kills of her own and added two aces and two blocks. Schmale now sits just nine block assists from breaking the school record held by Ruth Evans (1985-88), who had 436.
Sophomore setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy finished just shy of a double-double with a match-leading 35 assists and nine digs, along with three kills and two blocks. Senior libero Kimberly Bailey led the Mavericks defensively with a match-high 25 digs as well as a season-high eight assists, and freshman outside hitter Gessica Gdowski also put together a solid effort, totaling eight kills, eight digs and three blocks.
As a team, Omaha hit .240 to WIU's .061 and outblocked the Leathernecks 9-6. Western was led by Peyton Crosser, who finished with team highs of eight kills and four blocks.
Bailey Named Summit League Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Senior libero Kimberly Bailey was named Summit League Co-Defensive Player of the Week for her performance the week of Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, the league office announced Monday. It was the first weekly conference award of her career.
Bailey averaged 7.57 digs per set for the week, helping Omaha defeat South Dakota on the road, 3-1, and Western Illinois at home, 3-0, to extend the Mavericks' win streak to five matches. The Lincoln, Neb., native had a match-high 28 digs against USD, as well as a match-leading 25 digs with a season-high eight assists against WIU.
Bailey is the first Omaha player to earn a Summit League Defensive Player of the Week award since the Mavs joined the conference in 2011-12. She ranks fourth in the league with 4.35 digs per set this season.
Denver's Cassidy Rooke joined Bailey as Co-Defensive Player of the Week, while Laura Milos of Oral Roberts was honored as Offensive Player of the Week.
O'Shaughnessy Races Into Top 10 Assists List
Sophomore setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy etched her name into the UNO record books two weeks ago. Less than two years into her career, she ranks 10th in school history for career assists, having amassed 1,901 since joining the program in 2014. The Omaha native passed former Maverick Cheri Pribyl, who had 1,768 from 1995 to 1998, and currently sits behind Katie Agnew (2004-07), who totaled 2,359 during her run at UNO.
Bailey Climbing Career Digs Chart
Senior libero Kimberly Bailey joined UNO's top 10 for career digs on Sept. 26, and she is now seventh on the list with 1,438 digs over the last three-plus seasons. Last weekend, she tied former Maverick and current volunteer assistant coach Tanya Cate (1994-97) and sits behind Amy Steffel (1993-96), who had 1,463 digs for sixth.
Bailey also ranks fourth in the Summit League this season for total digs (422) and digs per set (4.35), and she owns 10 performances with 20 or more digs in a match.
Mavericks Making Their Mark Nationally
Omaha officially ranks among the top 40 nationally in four categories, coming in at 20th for digs per set (17.07) and attacks per set (37.62), 22nd for total digs (1,656) and 30th for total attacks (3,649). Individually, senior middle blocker Megan Schmale is 12th in the country for total blocks (124) and 38th for blocks per set (1.28), while sophomore setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy is 40th for total assists (961).
Schmale Surges Into Career Top Five for Block Assists
Senior middle blocker Megan Schmale entered the top 10 in school history for career block assists earlier this season and has moved up to third on the list since then. After her combined 11 assisted blocks against South Dakota and Western Illinois, Schmale has 428 in three-and-a-half years, making her only the fourth Maverick to register 400 or more assisted stops.
Schmale's next targets are Kathy Knudsen (1982-85), who is second with 435, and Ruth Evans (1985-88), the all-time leader with 436.
Wollak Joins 1,000 Kill Club
On Sept. 11, senior outside hitter Kelley Wollak became the 19th player in program history -- and the first in the Division I era -- to pass the 1,000 career kills milestone. She hit No. 1,000 just two plays into the third set against SIUE.
Omaha last added players to the 1,000 Kill Club in 2009, when Kelli Goeser (2006-09) finished her career with 1,058 and Ellen Thommes (2006-09) closed with 1,282. Over her Maverick career, Wollak has compiled 1,129 kills in just over three seasons.
What Makes Up the Mavericks
•Omaha returns 11 letterwinners from the 2014 season, including seven in the starting lineup: libero Kimberly Bailey, middle blockers Diane Banderas and Megan Schmale, setter/rightside hitter Michaela Schimmer, setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy and outside hitters Kelley Wollak and Mackenzie Horkey.
•UNO returns 98 percent of its total offensive production from last season, as this year's returners accounted for 1,470 of the Mavericks' 1,495 kills.
•The Mavs also return 98 percent of their total blocking production from last year, with the returners credited for 287.5 out of 292.5 stops.
•Omaha lost four letterwinners from the 2014 squad in graduated seniors Jessy Schroedter and Rachelle Kruml, along with defensive specialists Marisa Moseman and Aftyn Johnson.
•Wollak is UNO's top returning hitter, having averaged 3.24 kills per set last year. At the net, Amanda Conlin had a team-high 1.16 blocks per set, and Schmale had 1.14 blocks per set.
•O'Shaughnessy and Horkey were both named to the Summit League All-Freshmen team at the end of 2014.
•The Mavericks are made up of four freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and six seniors.
•Schmale was Omaha's first Division I all-conference pick in 2013, earning All-Summit honorable mention status. She led the conference in blocking and ranked in the top 100 nationally for blocks per set. Schmale also earned Academic All-Summit accolades, which she repeated in 2014.
Shires Guides Mavericks as Winningest Coach in School History
Head coach Rose Shires is the all-time winningest coach in 45 years of UNO volleyball history. In her 26th year at the helm of the Maverick program, Shires owns a career record of 470-341 (.580), 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 25th season with UNO, assistant coach Elena Pietro, in her first year, and volunteer assistant coach Tanya Cate, who is in her sixth year on the Maverick staff.
Mixed Schedule Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2015 schedule includes 20 matches against 21 different opponents, and the team will play in 10 states across the country. UNO will square off with opponents from 10 different conferences, with three from the Missouri Valley, two from the Mountain West and once each from the American Athletic, BIG EAST, Big West, Big Sky, MAC, OVC, Southland and the WAC. Three foes -- Seton Hall, Central Florida and Denver -- were 2014 NCAA Tournament qualifiers.
Entering 2015, the Mavericks had never faced five of their 2015 opponents: Seton Hall, UNLV, Central Arkansas, Central Florida and San Jose State. Omaha currently holds a combined all-time record of 209-142-1 over all teams on the slate this season.
Freshman Foursome
The Mavericks have welcomed four true freshmen to the roster this season: defensive specialist Jessica Plake (Kansas City, Kan.), rightside hitter Meagen Roth (Lincoln, Neb.) and outside hitters Kayla Torson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and Gessica Gdowski (Fremont, Neb.).
Plake was a two-time all-state selection at Bishop Miege High School, where she helped the Stags to three state championships. Torson was a three-time all-state player at Xavier High School. Roth, a product of Lincoln Southeast High School, twice earned All-Nebraska honors and was part of three consecutive district championship teams, while Gdowski was a three-time all-state honorable mention pick at Fremont High School.
Plake, Gdowski and Torson have seen playing time so far this year, with Gdowski starting five matches since Oct. 20.
Summit League Preseason Poll Announced
Omaha was picked to finish sixth in the 2015 Summit League Preseason Poll released by the conference office on Aug. 20. The poll was determined by a vote of the league's head coaches.
Defending league champion Denver was tabbed as the league favorite after collecting seven first-place votes. IUPUI came in second, and North Dakota State was third. Oral Roberts was picked fourth, and South Dakota followed in fifth. Omaha tied for sixth with Fort Wayne, while South Dakota State and Western Illinois rounded out the poll in eighth and ninth, respectively.
Triple Trouble
Senior Michaela Schimmer has accounted for the last five triple-doubles in Omaha volleyball history. She tallied her fifth career triple-double on Nov. 15, 2013 vs. South Dakota, finishing with 12 kills, 26 assists and 20 digs. Schimmer had three triple-doubles as a freshman in 2012 and two more in 2013. Prior to her, the last triple-double came from Krista Niezwaag in 1999.
No Longer the Newcomers
In 2015-16, Omaha is in its first year as a Division I institution with full Summit League and NCAA postseason eligibility. The Mavericks competed the last four seasons as a reclassifying Division I school, and they officially joined the Summit League in 2012. During the reclassification period, UNO was ineligible for the league tournament and NCAA postseason play, but played a full regular-season conference schedule in its last three transitional years.
Next Up
Omaha returns to action next Tuesday, Nov. 10, hosting Oral Roberts for the Mavericks' final home match of the season. The contest is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena, and links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
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