Story by Omaha Supernova News
OMAHA, Neb. โ On Saturday, the Omaha Supernovas (18-8) went from preseason favorites to their first champions, defeating Grand Rapids Rise (13-13) 25-13, 26-24, 25-22. He won by a landslide in front of a crowd of 10,678 people. The first PVF champion.
Saturday was Supernova's third sweep in May. Omaha has had a combined three sweeps in the past three months.
At the trophy ceremony, Supernovas setter Sidney Hilley was awarded postseason MVP and a $10,000 bonus for the University of Wisconsin product coming off the bench to lead Omaha's offense to two wins. Ta. Hilly had 40 assists and six digs in three sets, and the Supernovas hit .342, their second-highest batting average of the season. That came after he had 46 assists and nine goals in a come-from-behind victory over San Diego in the semifinals.
Olympian Bethania de la Cruz held Omaha's attackers to 13 kills and scored eight goals at a .423 clip, earning her league-leading 35th ace of the season. Stephanie Samedi tied her teammates with a .346 batting average and 13 kills, including one ace and one block. Samedi finished the postseason with a total of 43 kills, a .391 clip, 13 digs, three blocks, and two aces in two games. Team captain Brooke Nuneviller became the third Supernova player to reach double-digit kills with 12 digs and 15 digs.
Middle blockers Ristina Vucikova and Tori Dixon combined for 12 kills, a .550 clip and five blocks. Vuchkova hit .750 with seven kills and one error on eight swings. She had a game-high three blocks. Dixon had 12 swings and was hit by five pitches, making no mistakes. She got two blocks. Libero Kendall White finished the season with nine goals and two assists.
Omaha had two aces and seven blocks.
Grand Rapids was led by star attackers Claire Chausset and Emilia Dimitrova. Chausse totaled 12 kills and seven digs, while Dimitrova also had 12 kills and 11 digs in her final professional volleyball match.
First set: Supernovas opened the set with a 4-0 run off Delacruz's serve. Nuneviller's second kill of the game doubled Omaha's lead to 8-4. The Supernovas scored three straight points to force a Rise timeout at 13-6. Dimitrova sided with Rise. Dela Cruz served his first ace of the match, giving Omaha a 16-8 lead. Nuneviller's fifth kill made Omaha the first to reach the 20-point mark. Samedi hit an ace to take a 23-10 lead and forced a Grand Rapids timeout. Rise scored two points out of the timeout, but Nuneviller's kill gave Omaha a set point. Delacruz finished the set with a kill, 25-13. The Supernovas had 17 kills, just one error, and a batting average of .615 in the set, holding Rise to nine kills and a batting average of .115.
Second set: Vuchkova made her second block of the match to put Omaha up 6-5. Dimitrova responded with her third kill of the set. Grand Rapids took a two-point lead, 9-7, on Chausse's goal. Dixon's kill tied the set at 11-11, but Dimitrova's play gave Rise a 12-11 lead. Nuneviller ended a marathon rally with her eighth kill of the match, tying the score with 13 seconds to play. Rise regained a two-point lead with kills from Chausse and Kayla Caffey. Nuneviler reached double-digit kills, 21-21. Rise scored the next two points to take a 23-21 lead. Samedi gave Omaha the ball back and Delacruz followed up with a shot of his own. Another kill by Delacruz brought Supernovas to set point. Omaha scored the 25th point to win the set, but smart challenges from Kathy George and Rise kept them in the set, tying the score at 24. A kill from Dela Cruz and a block from Dixon gave Omaha a 26-24 set victory. Four Supernovas achieved 4 or more kills in this set. Chausset led the way to Rise with six cars.
Set 3: Supernovas won the first 3 points of the set. Erica Pritchard got Rise on the board with her fourth kill. Samedi's kill gave Omaha a three-point lead at 9-6. Delacruz then had a kill to extend Supernova's lead. Hilly's block gave Omaha an 11-7 lead. Samedi's 12 kills gave Omaha a 15-10 lead, but Dimitrova got the ball back for Rise and scored the next two points to cut Omaha's lead to 15-13. Vuchkova made strides offensively, giving Omaha a three-point lead at 17-14. Rise tied it with 19 seconds to play, but Samedi's kill gave Omaha the lead back. Back-to-back Omaha points gave them a 22-20 lead and forced a Grand Rapids timeout. Vucikova's seventh kill gave Omaha the championship point. Rise saved one match point, but Grand Rapids' service error ended the set, giving Omaha a 25-22 set victory and its first Professional Volleyball Federation championship. Dela Cruz and Samedi led the Supernovas with five kills each. Samedi added another block in the final set of the season.