Mavericks Look Very Impressive in Winning Omaha Challenge

UMKC setter Alli Schomers from Skutt Catholic gives a signal to her teammates during the Omaha Challenge over the weekend. (Photo by Berk Brown). 

OMAHA – In many ways, the Omaha Challenge was a celebration of the rich volleyball talent in Nebraska, with each of the four teams competing – Omaha, UTEP, UMKC and Illinois-Chicago – featuring former standouts from the state.

Yet, it was also a reminder as to why Nebraska is called the Volleyball State as the Mavericks went a perfect 3-0 to win its own tournament. The Mavericks beat both UMKC and UIC 3-1 before sweeping UTEP to close out the tournament. Each of the other three teams went 1-2.

Here is a look at how former Nebraska high school standouts did in the tournament:

UTEP – Malory Yost, 6’1, Soph., MB, Gretna – It was a little bit of a head-scratcher weekend for the way UTEP used the former Gretna standout. Yost was dominant at times in the Miners’ only win of the tournament as she had eight kills (.273 hitting), 10 blocks and five digs as UTEP won its opener over Illinois-Chicago. Yost then sat out the final portion of the Miners’ loss to UMKC and saw limited time in the sweep to Omaha. She still finished the tournament with 14 kills on .250 hitting, 14 blocks and six digs.

UMKC – Alli Schomers, 5’10, Soph., Setter, Skutt Catholic – As part of the UMKC two-setter offense, Schomers played the entire tournament and performed just like we were used to seeing her play at Skutt. Schomers was a model of consistency, dishing out 75 assists in the three matches and added 27 digs and one service ace.

UMKC – Melanie Brecka, 6’0, Fr., RS, Lincoln Southeast – Omaha dodged a serious bullet over the weekend because when Brecka caught fire in the Omaha Challenge, it was after the Mavericks had already beat the Roos. Playing as a right side, Brecka had five kills on .091 hitting and five blocks against the Mavericks, but then went off for 13 kills against UTEP (.286 hitting) and 19 against UIC (.500 hitting) and she was named to the Omaha Challenge All-Tournament Team. She finished the weekend with 37 kills on .292 hitting with 10 digs and 10 blocks.

UIC – Clara Lamb, 6’3, Fr., RS, Omaha Westside – Lamb established a season high 11 kills in the Flames’ opening match against UTEP and then matched it again against UMKC and went on to be named to the Omaha Challenge All-Tournament Team. Against Omaha she had five kills, but for the tournament she finished with 27 terminations (.240 hitting percentage) to go along with 12 blocks. 

Omaha – Kenzie Michalek, 5’7, Fr., DS, Papillion-LaVista – Michalek has been a consistent presence in the Mavericks’ back row this season and finished the tournament with 26 digs (including a season-high 12 against UTEP), two assists and an ace serve.

Omaha – Courtney Morehead, 5’6, Jr., DS, Bellevue West – The transfer from Drake, Morehead has been another anchor for Omaha’s defense and in the Omaha Challenge she finished with 32 digs (including a season-high 14 against UIC), two ace serves and an assist.

Omaha – Claire Mountjoy, 5’5, Soph., Libero, Elkhorn – Mountjoy earned Omaha Challenge All-Tournament team honors as libero and patrolled the back row for the Mavericks to the tune of 45 digs – with 23 coming in the win over UIC. Mountjoy also had eight assists and four ace serves over the weekend. 

While it was really cool to see so many former high school standouts from the state do well in the tournament, the big takeaway from the weekend was the fact that this Omaha team is good – and only going to get better.

A huge part of the optimism surrounding the 2018 Mavs are the three local products that bring a lot of stability and talent to the back row in Mountjoy, Morehead and Michalek. In 2017, Mountjoy was basically thrown into the fire as a freshman libero because she was the only – THE ONLY – back row player on the roster. Mountjoy emerged from that season in the fire like a hardened piece of steel and has turned herself into a All-Summit League caliber libero. Bringing in Morehead and Michalek has added so much consistency and balance to the back row.

For my money, the other huge transformation for Omaha this season has been the addition of right side Sadie Limback. The freshman lefty from Missouri was an All-American during the club season and has stepped right in and absolutely has the look of a Summit League Freshman of the Year. She was named the Omaha Challenge MVP. All she has done in her first six college matches is lead the team in kills with 58 while hitting .261. She also has 20 digs and 13 blocks. 

In the middle Omaha has two All-Summit Freshman Team members from a year ago in Bella Sade from Iowa and Anna Blaschko from Minnesota and the pair give the Mavericks a huge 1-2 punch in the middle. I still maintain my opinion that the duo completely outplayed Nebraska’s middles of Brianna Holman and Lauren Stivrins last year when the two teams played. Sade and Blaschko have a combined 103 kills and 27 blocks. 

Freshman setter Sydney Case from Minnesota took over the full-time setter gig this past weekend from Creighton transfer Jaclyn Taylor. Case isn’t real flashy and she had some freshman moments over the weekend, but she delivers a real nice and accurate ball and put up 151 assists in the three tournament matches. When you think about Case having two more years – potentially – after this season to continue to develop her timing and rhythm with Sade, Blaschko and Limback ….. wow.

Omaha’s biggest question mark is still on the outside, where it just doesn’t feel like the Mavericks have that true alpha attacker. Abby Bergsten, a senior from Council Bluffs, is the kind of kid that simply works her tail off and you pull for. She’s really more of a L2, but she has been Omaha’s most effective and efficient outside hitter so far and had 29 kills and seven digs in the tournament. Claire Leonard, a sophomore transfer from Canisus, has the look of potentially being that L1 but has yet to really seize that spot. She had 11 kills and 11 hitting errors in Omaha’s first two matches of the tournament but rebounded with an 11 kill, two dig performance on .310 hitting against UTEP. Leonard is third on the team this season with 53 kills, but is hitting just .154. Mackenzie Horkey, the senior from Minnesota, is potentially another option on the outside but she has played just three matches, hitting .054 with eight kills and four digs. 

If/when the Mavericks find two consistent outsides to roll with, this is an Omaha team more than capable of winning the Summit League and taking the program to its first NCAA Tournament. That’s a lot easier said than done, though.

In order to keep the momentum rolling from this past weekend, the 3-3 Mavericks have to find a way to compete well this weekend at the Kansas State Invitational against the host Wildcats, Oregon State and North Texas. If Omaha can find a win this weekend in Manhattan, that would go a long ways in the confidence of the young team, one would think. The following weekend Omaha has three very winnable matches at Bradley against the Braves, Milwaukee and Eastern Illinois. There is potential for Omaha to go 4-2 in its next six matches and roll into Summit play with a mark of 7-5 and feeling good about itself.

The Summit League itself is shaping up to be quite a competitive conference as South Dakota – with former Nebraska high school standouts Elizabeth Loschen (Omaha Marian) and Madison Jurgens (Diller-Odell) starting – knocked off Pac-12 California 3-1 over the weekend. Denver is currently 5-1 on the season with its only loss coming in five sets to Pac-12 Utah. 

This much is certain though, Omaha will be right in the thick of things this fall and for several falls to come.