by Ben Helwig
(OMAHA, NE)—After sweeping both opponents in Friday’s action, Omaha was pushed to the brink in the final match of the Omaha challenge Saturday afternoon by UAlbany. Despite falling down two sets to zero, Omaha won the next three sets to beat the Great Danes and win the Omaha Challenge.
While the end result was a positive one for the Mavericks, it didn’t start out that way. The Great Danes really took it to Omaha early from the dominant play of redshirt senior Akubata Okenwa.
Okenwa, who led UAlbany in kills a season ago, was a force at the net. She finished with a team-high 16 kills, and was constantly a bother at the net, thanks to her 6-2 frame.
On the heels of their senior’s play, UAlbany took the first set 25-23, a set that Omaha started slowly before nearly coming back.
Up until that point, Omaha had dominated the second set in the Omaha Challenge, winning their previous two second sets by a combined 50-28. This time, it was UAlbany that ran the show in set two. The Great Danes squashed the Mavs 25-16 in set two. For the first time this season, Omaha had their backs to the wall, their first real in-game adversity of the season.
Despite being down by two sets, Omaha coach Matt Buttermore never lost his composure. He continued to stay calm, cool and collected which seemed to reflect on his players. Perhaps it was that coolness coupled with a refocused mindset that spurred an Omaha run, but regardless Omaha came out stronger in set three.
Isabella Sade began to heat up for the Mavs after struggling a bit with location in the first two sets. Omaha libero Claire Mountjoy also had a phenomenal match, as she really helped slow the UAlbany kills with some great digs. She led the team with 29 digs in the match.
Omaha proceeded to win sets three and four, both by a score of 25-23. Freshmen continued to aid this Omaha rotation as the likes of Megan Woods and Rachel Fairbanks saw valuable playing time in the match. Another freshman, Erin Williams, also came in for some crucial serving opportunities.
Now with energy high in Baxter Arena and a winner-take-all fifth set looming, momentum was completely on the side of the Mavericks.
Omaha completely controlled the fifth set from start to finish. Both Woods and Mountjoy strung together a run of serves that ultimately killed the Great Danes. Omaha won the set 15-5, completing the comeback and sweeping the Omaha Challenge.
Sade led the team with 24 kills, with Woods chipping in 12 and junior Anna Blaschko contributing 11. Jaclyn Taylor, in her first weekend as Omaha’s primary setter, had a solid overall match as well with 52 assists with only two errors.
It wasn’t all good news for Omaha as junior hitter Claire Leonard tweaked her ankle in the first set. She played sparingly in set two before exiting to ice her ankle for the duration of the game. While not appearing too serious, her status moving forward is uncertain.
In addition to winning the Omaha Challenge, the Mavericks had three athletes making the all-tournament team. Blaschko, Mountjoy and Sade all were selected to all-tournament team, with Sade earning overall MVP.
The Mavericks are back in action Tuesday night as they welcome the Kansas Jayhawks to Baxter Arena. The match is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. You can hear all action on MavRadio.fm
