Omaha Outlasts UNC in Extras

Saturday, September 3

Omaha, Neb.

3 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

3-2,0-0Big Sky

Omaha

4-1,0-0Summit League

Northern Colo.

Omaha

Photo by: Jam David

9/3/2022 7:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: By Jason Dormeyer

UNC Athletics · VB Postgame vs. Omaha: Lyndsey Oates

OMAHA, Neb.—With the final two sets going past the 25-point mark, the University of Nebraska Omaha eked past the University of Northern Colorado, 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 21-25, 28-26, 19-17), in the final match of the Omaha Challenge on Saturday.

Playing on their home court, UNO (4-1) survived match points in both the fourth and fifth sets to successfully climb back from a 2-1 deficit. With the setback, UNC fell to 3-2 on the season.

Even after the first two sets, the Bears closed out the third set on a 7-3 run with Rachel Hickman providing the penultimate point before an Omaha attacking error to reclaim an overall 2-1 lead.

Serving with a 24-23 advantage in the fourth, UNC was poised to end the match early but Omaha used kills from tree different players down the way to stretch the set and eventually force the fifth with a combo block from Morgan DeBow and Kali Jurgensmeier giving the Mavs a 28-26 win.

Hickman opened the fifth and final set with another kill and the Bears quickly generated a 9-3 gap thanks to three kills from Makenzie Harris and a pair of terminations from Kailey Jo Ince. Ince continued her strong swinging with back-to-back kills for a 12-7 advantage for UNC.

Down 14-12 and facing two chances at match point following another Hickman kill, Omaha picked the perfect time to place a three-point streak on the board and rotated the match-point in favor of the home side at 15-14.

The Bears managed to knot the set at 16- and again at 17-all, but were thwarted at a chance of recovery with a match-ending block from the Mavericks for a 19-17 score in the finale.

Ince led the Bears with a season-high 23 kills while Harris and Hickman followed with 19 and 17 kills, respectively. Michaela Boon posted a season-best 24 digs while Syd Cole was credited with a season-high 55 assists for her second 50-assist match of the season.

GAME NOTES
- Former rivals in the NCC, the meeting was the first between the two teams as NCAA Division I opponents
- UNC outhit the Mavericks .308 to .259
- Both teams registered 73 kills in the match
- UNC has won the opening set in four of the team's five matches this season.

UP NEXT
The Bears will travel to for a trio of matches as part of the South Dakota Classic. UNC will face West Virginia and CSU Bakersfield on Friday before squaring off against the host Coyotes of USD on Saturday. Saturday's match will be played in Sioux Falls, S.D., inside of the Pentagon.

BACK IN THE BANK
UNC volleyball returns to Bank of Colorado Arena for a three-match swing September 15-17 when the Bears host Tarleton State, Cal Poly, and Santa Clara. All three matches are 6 p.m. first serves and tickets are available via the UNC Athletics app, online at UNCBears.com/tickets or by calling (970) 351-4849 or visiting the Ticket Office in Campus Commons from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.