Nebraska Women’s Roundup: Supernovas crowned PVF champions, Nebraska state volleyball leads world in attendance
No one does volleyball like the state of Nebraska. Husker volleyball is a dynasty of elite teams and five national championships. They competed for the 2023 national championship as well but fell short. The reigning Big Ten Champions are not the only decorated team in Nebraska. The Omaha Supernovas won the Pro Volleyball Federation’s first championship and secured $1 million.
The Supernovas swept the Grand Rapids Rise, which features former Husker middle Kayla Caffey, at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb. on May 18. The first match of the season was at the CHI Health Center and so was the last. A crowd of 10,678 fans watched the inaugural PVF championship.
Omaha setter and former Wisconsin Badger Sydney Hilley won the postseason’s Most Valuable Player after starting on the bench. With that, she was rewarded with a $10,000 bonus. She helped the Supernovas to hit .342 against the Rise.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY POINT #OmahaSupernovas | #MatchForAMillion pic.twitter.com/DaF0vYMpOA— Omaha Supernovas (@OmahaSupernovas) May 18, 2024
The Novas came back from a 2-0 deficit against No. 3 San Diego Mojo to advance to the championship. They completed their first reverse sweep in franchise history with a 20-25, 16-25, 25-18, 25-8, 15-11 victory.
Outside hitter Bethania de la Cruz won the league’s Best Server Award in the PVF Yearly honors. Additionally, middle blocker Hristina Vuchkova and outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller made the All-League Teams. Nuneviller and de la Cruz were the first team selections and Vuchkova was on the second team.
The Supernovas will have competition in Omaha with League One beginning this fall. While they already have a fan base, the League One team features former Huskers Jordan Larson, Justine Wong-Orantes and Madi Kubik. But one thing we know about Nebraskans is there is never enough volleyball. We’ll see.
Now, let’s jump into this week’s edition of the Nebraska Women’s Roundup, including Track and Field’s 53 NCAA Bids and the state of Nebraska leading the world in college and professional volleyball attendance.
Nebraska Women’s Roundup: Softball season concludes, Track and Field Big Ten runners-up
Stats of the Week:
9656: The Omaha Supernovas averaged 9,656 fans per match at the CHI Health Center during the regular season of the inaugural season of the Pro Volleyball Federation. Not only did they lead the league in attendance, but they also led all the professional volleyball teams worldwide. Conegliano in Italy is second with a 4,614 attendance average. The Columbus Fury, a PVF team, is third with a 4,518 average attendance.
Every year, Nebraska proves why it is the epicenter of volleyball in the U.S. They continue to uphold the honor. The Huskers lead the world with 12,603 average attendance during the regular season in 2023. The numbers were bumped up by the 93,002 fans at Volleyball Day in Nebraska. The Omaha Supernovas are second in volleyball attendance worldwide.
It’s no wonder USA Volleyball is planning to move its headquarters to Gretna, Nebraska, from Anaheim, California. No one loves volleyball more than Nebraska.
First & Second-Team All-Big Ten Honors. pic.twitter.com/KB4zJHPUln— Nebraska Track & Field/Cross Country (@HuskerTFXC) May 15, 2024
53: Nebraska Track and Field earned 53 bids to the NCAA West Preliminary round on May 22-25 at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark. All athletes who rank in the top 48 in their event earned berths along with 24 of the best relays.
The women received 30 bids, with 26 individuals, and the men earned 23 bids as a unit. Mine De Klerk, Ashley McElmurry, Amelia Flynt and Kalynn Meyer will compete in two events.
5: Five Husker Track and Field stars were selected on the All-Big Team First Team: Tyus Wilson, Axelina Johansson, Rhianna Phipps, Rhema Otabor and Darius Luff. Additionally, 11 were selected on the second team, including Ashley McElmurry and Jenna Rogers on the women’s side.
Nine of the men who led NU to the 2024 Big Ten Outdoor Championship made the second team as well – Garrett Kaalund, Dash Sirmon, Cade Moran, Micaylon Moore, Kavian Kerr, Jeremiah Smith, Henry Zimmerman, Kevin Shubert and Terrol Wilson.
four games in making a statement @SHaiby_4 is off to an amazing start in her first season Down Under! #ProBigRed pic.twitter.com/m8TArulFvn— Nebraska Women's Basketball (@HuskerWBB) May 15, 2024
14.8: Former Husker Women’s Basketball guard Sam Haiby had a strong start to her first four professional games. She plays for Mackay Meteorettes in Australia’s NBL1. In her first games, she averaged 14.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.8 steals per game. She also shot 41.5 percent from field goal range and 78.95 percent from the free throw line.
League One adds another former Husker: Former Husker Outside Hitter Madi Kubik returns to the USA after two seasons overseas. She joins former Huskers Jordan Larson and Justine Wong-Orantes on Omaha’s League One team.
The League One Omaha team is putting pressure on the Omaha Supernovas, a PVF team, to get familiar faces on their roster.
Additionally, LOVB announced their six head coaches. Former Arkansas associate head coach and Kansas State head coach Suzie Fritz will be Omaha’s leader. Fritz spent 22 years as K-State’s head coach, leaving as the program’s all-time winningest coach after a 393-263 record in 22 seasons.
We’ve got a familiar face coming back to Nebraska!Welcome to Omaha, @MadiKubik and as @jwongorantes said, go big green? #lovboma #MadiKubik pic.twitter.com/Gm1ROZDn7r— LOVB Omaha Volleyball (@lovboma) May 17, 2024
Player of the Week: Billie Andrews
Nebraska shortstop Billie Andrews deserves one more Player of the Week honor before she leaves the Huskers. Andrews had a great season despite the chaos caused by NU’s injuries.
Andrews is one of three Huskers on the NFCA All-Midwest Region Team. She made the first team while third baseman Sydney Gray was on the second, and catcher Ava Bredwell made the third. This season, Andrews also earned her third First Team All-Big Ten honor and was Nebraska’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year. She was named the NCAA Player of the Week after the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in February.
Andrews made the Big Ten All-Tournament Team despite the Huskers falling in the semifinals. She had six RBI thanks to three home runs on six hits in two games.
The 2024 team captain is leaving Nebraska with a program-high 61 career home runs and the most games with multiple home runs (8). The Gretna native also drew a program-high four walks in two games. Andrews also hit 20 home runs in 2022, the most by a sophomore in Husker history.
Replacing both Andrews sisters will be extremely difficult for the 2024 season.
Just Billie Andrews doing Billie Andrews things! Solo homer from @billieandrews makes it 3-1 in the bottom of the third! pic.twitter.com/ivCISGaAKF— Nebraska Softball (@HuskerSoftball) May 9, 2024
National and recruiting news:
Lisa Bluder retires, Jan Jensen next Iowa Head Coach: Iowa Head Women’s Basketball Coach Lisa Bluder has retired. Jan Jensen, Bluder’s assistant for 24 years at Iowa, is the next head coach. Bluder led Iowa to back-to-back National Championship games. Bluder is the Winningest Coach in Big Ten Women’s Basketball history.
In Nebraska and Iowa’s last 12 meetings, the Hawkeyes won 11 games. Their last matchup was in the Big Ten Tournament championship, where Iowa won 94-89 in overtime. NU’s one victory was in Lincoln in 2024 to upset the No. 2 Hawkeyes 82-79 behind a 14-point comeback.
Iowa will undergo a significant change for the 2024-25 season as Bluder and Caitlin Clark have both moved on.
Soccer adds two to 2024 Husker squad: Nebraska soccer added a transfer and a Class of 2024 defender to its roster. Gracie English is a graduate transfer forward and spent two seasons at Saint Louis and her junior and senior years at Missouri State. The Bellevue East product helped Saint Francis to two conference titles. As a senior at Missouri State, she scored a team-high seven goals with three assists and tied the school record with five game-winning goals.
Defender Reese Snowden was previously committed to Kansas State. While at Manhattan (Kan.) High School, she led her team to three straight Kansas Class 6A fourth-place finishes. She had 48 career goals and 28 career assists. The defender is also a three-time KHSSA Class 6A All-State Second Team and three-time All-State selection.
They join Anya McKay, Maddy Osborn and Rin Sato in Nebraska’s 2024 newcomers.
2024 slate locked in. https://t.co/yn1LGYiyLL pic.twitter.com/X2V3aloGBO— Nebraska Soccer (@HuskerSoccer) May 9, 2024
Liz Schmeltzer named Rifle Head Coach: Nebraska Rifle has named Elizabeth “Liz” Schmeltzer as their eighth head coach in program history. Schmeltzer is a former NCAA National Champion and 11-time All-American at TCU. She also represented Team USA in the 2018 ISSF World Shooting Championships, winning a silver medal in the smallbore and bronze in the prone.
Schmeltzer worked for two-time Olympian Lucas Kozeniesky as a coach for Team Winning Solution in Colorado Springs, Colo., for the past two and a half years.
On the horizon:
Track and Field: The NCAA West Preliminary Rounds run from May 22 to May 25 at the John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark. The meet starts at 10:00 a.m. CT on Wednesday and Thursday. The first event is at 1:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. All four days can be streamed on ESPN+.
The Huskers compete to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 5-9 in Eugene, Oregon at Hayward Field.
NCAA Softball: The NCAA Softball Tournament is in full swing. The Oklahoma Sooners are vying to become the first team in softball program history to win four straight WCWS. However, they’ve lost six games this season after losing four games in the last two seasons combined. OU is the No. 2 seed, with Texas sitting at the top. The Super Regionals begin on Friday, May 24, and it’s bound to be electric.
Volleyball National League: Jordan Larson and Justine Wong-Orantes are aiming to lead the USA Volleyball National Team to another gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But first, they compete in the FIVB Women’s Volleyball National League. After falling to Brazil 3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 18-25, 25-19), Team USA bounced back to sweep the Dominican Republic on Sunday, May 19.
Larson led the team with 13 digs, nine kills and two aces against the Dominican Republic. Against Brazil, she had 17 kills, one block and one ace.
On May 28, Team USA faces Canada in the second round of the VNL at 7:30 p.m. CT. After losing one match, the USA is ranked No. 8 out of 16 teams/countries. The USA national team has already qualified for the Paris Olympics, but the US hasn’t won the VNL since 2021. They didn’t place in 2022 or 2023. The VNL matches can be watched on VBTV.
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2024 VNL | xJordan Larson – 1⃣8⃣ points pic.twitter.com/rbqcLYbQzM— Avid (@AvidVolley) May 17, 2024
The post Nebraska Women’s Roundup: Supernovas crowned PVF champions, Nebraska state volleyball leads world in attendance appeared first on On3.
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