Omaha Supernovas pull off reverse sweep to advance to Pro Volleyball Federation championship match

But when it was over, Omaha had secured a spot in Saturday’s Pro Volleyball Federation championship match. And given itself a chance to win the $1 million bonus.

The Supernovas posted the reverse sweep with a 20-25 16-25, 25-18, 25-8, 15-11 victory in front of 8,416 exhausted fans who left the CHI Health Center at 11:20 p.m.

Stephanie Samedy played a huge role in the victory, pounding a franchise-record 30 kills. She had five in the 15-point final set to lift Omaha into the championship.

With the match tied 2-2, Omaha opened a slim 8-6 lead on a Samedy ace. San Diego got it tied for the last time at 9-9 but a 3-0 run put the Supernovas in charge.

A block by Bethania de la Cruz put Omaha on the brink of victory and a kill by Brooke Nuneviller ended it.

Nuneviller finished with 15 kills while de la Cruz had 11. Sydney Hilley, who entered the match in the second set, dished out 46 assists.

San Diego led for much of the first set, though Omaha got it tied for the last time at 14-14. The Mojo soon made it 19-16, leading to a Supernovas timeout.

Omaha could get no closer the rest of the way and San Diego captured the opening set on a kill by Lindsey Vander Weide.

The Mojo kept up the pressure in the second set, sprinting to a 6-0 lead. Omaha got within 13-10 but San Diego continued its attack, opening a 19-12 advantage while silencing the Supernovas crowd.

Omaha strung together a few late points but the Mojo prevailed by nine points on a kill by Alison Bastianelli.

The Supernovas started to get things turned around in the third set, opening an 8-3 advantage. San Diego rattled off four straight points but that was as close as it would get.

Omaha continued to widen its lead and finished off the set on a kill by Samedy, her 23rd of the match.

With momentum on their side, the Supernovas steamrolled to a 17-point win in the fourth set. Omaha led 16-4 and cruised home, capturing the set on a Mojo service error while tying the match and bringing the crowd to life.

Vander Weide and Temi Thomas-Alaria each had 11 kills for the Mojo.

The first-place team during the Pro Volleyball Federation regular season won’t be the playoff champion.

The Grand Rapids Rise upset the Atlanta Vibe in five sets Wednesday in the first PVF semifinal at the CHI Health Center. Fourth-seeded Grand Rapids won the match 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-8 to advance to Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. final.

The Rise will play the winner of Wednesday night’s late semifinal between the Omaha Supernovas and the San Diego Mojo. The winner of the championship match will share a bonus of $1 million.

The match was tied 2-2 before Grand Rapids dominated the 15-point fifth set. The Rise led 6-1, 8-3 and 10-5.

Atlanta could get no closer than five points down the stretch and Grand Rapids won the final three points to end it.

Claire Chaussee led the way with 22 kills, including the one that capped the victory. Emiliya Dimitrova chipped in 19 kills while Erika Pritchard had 15.

Anna Lazareva had 17 kills to pace the top-seeded Vibe, which went 19-5 to finish first during the regular season.