Omaha Unveils 2016 Volleyball Slate, Ticket Plans
Jul 25, 2016 | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Season tickets for the 2016 Omaha volleyball season are now on sale, the Omaha Athletic Department announced Monday, along with the Mavericks' finalized 2016 schedule.
Season-ticket packages are available for $70 per person and include all 13 home contests, with nine matches at Baxter Arena and four matches at Sapp Fieldhouse. In addition, fans will receive five bonus matches with the inclusion of all non-UNO contests during the six-team Omaha Classic.
"Baxter Arena is one of the best new volleyball venues in the country, and we're excited to play the majority of our home matches there," head coach Rose Shires said. "It's a facility that inspires our team to compete at a higher level, and it has opened doors for our volleyball program."
Over the regular season, Omaha will play in eight states against schools from 12 other Division I conferences, with three opponents from the Missouri Valley and one apiece from the Atlantic-10, Big 12, Big Sky, Big Ten, Big West, Ivy League, MAC, Ohio Valley, SEC, Southland and WAC. Four opponents -- Denver, Illinois, Iowa State and Northern Iowa -- played in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Omaha debuts Aug. 26-27 at the North Dakota Tournament, facing host UND, UC Davis and Ole Miss in Grand Forks, N.D. The Mavericks make their first home appearance the following week, welcoming national power Iowa State to Baxter Arena on Sept. 1. They then host the Omaha Classic Sept. 2-3, bringing in Ball State, UMKC, Abilene Christian, Drake and South Dakota.
UNO returns to action the next week, participating in back-to-back weekend tournaments in Missouri. The Mavericks clash with Bradley, Northern Iowa and Cornell at the UMKC Tournament, Sept. 9-10 in Kansas City, then Illinois, Saint Louis and Murray State at the SLU Tournament, Sept. 16-17 in St. Louis.
Omaha's fifth year of Summit League competition begins the following weekend with home matches against Fort Wayne (Sept. 23) and defending league champion Denver (Sept. 24). A midweek tilt with Western Illinois (Sept. 27) completes the homestand before the team takes its first league road trip to South Dakota State (Sept. 30) and Oral Roberts (Oct. 2).
Omaha then enjoys another three-match homestand at Sapp Fieldhouse with IUPUI (Oct. 8), South Dakota (Oct. 14) and North Dakota State (Oct. 16). A challenging four-game road swing begins immediately thereafter, as the Mavericks visit IUPUI (Oct. 21), Fort Wayne (Oct. 22), South Dakota (Oct. 28) and North Dakota State (Oct. 29).
Another match at Sapp Fieldhouse -- vs. South Dakota State (Nov. 4) – starts UNO's final home weekend, which is capped with Senior Day at Baxter Arena against Oral Roberts (Nov. 6). Omaha closes the regular season with a final jaunt to Denver (Nov. 8) and Western Illinois (Nov. 12).
The Summit League Tournament, which culls its field from the top six teams in the conference's regular-season standings, is then set for Nov. 18-20 in Denver, Colo.
"In building the 2016 schedule, we tried to achieve a balance between high RPI teams like Iowa State, Illinois, Saint Louis and Ole Miss, along with teams with RPIs similar to ours," Shires said. "In pushing our program forward, the way to get better is to find that right mix of competition that prepares us for a tough postseason.
"Our home schedule, in particular, has a lot to offer us, with a match against a top-20 contender in Iowa State and the Omaha Classic, which is loaded with quality opponents. Our home matches really demonstrate a lot in terms of how much our program has grown and how we can continue to progress."
Shires, the winningest coach in program history and 2016 Summit League Coach of the Year, enters her 27th season at the helm of the Maverick program and carries a career record of 475-343. Omaha returns seven letterwinners, including three starters in junior setter Sydney O'Shaughnessy, junior outside hitter Mackenzie Horkey and sophomore outside hitter Gessica Gdowski.
Season tickets may be purchased in-person at the Baxter Arena Ticket Office, by phone at (402) 554-MAVS or online at OMavs.com/tix.
