OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha Supernovas (7-4) continue their four-match homestand by facing off against the Orlando Valkyries (5-6) for the fourth and final time this season in Luck of the Novas Night at the CHI Health Center on Saturday, March 16. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CST in Omaha.
News Channel Nebraska will televise the event, with John Baylor doing play-by-play and Olympian Nancy Metcalf providing commentary. The match can be watched on statewide providers like Dish (30 or 35), Allo (181), Spectrum (98, 99, 715 or 1233) and Cox (116). The match will also be viewable on other local cable providers that carry NCN throughout the state.
Also, the match will be streamed online for free on NewsChannelNebraska.com and the free News Channel Nebraska app on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.
The match will be broadcast live on the Supernovas Radio Network, featuring its flagship station 93.7 The Ticket.The broadcast will also be live on 95.7 The Boss (Omaha), KRVN (Lexington), KOLT (Scottsbluff), and KTIC (West Point).
Match notes can be found here.
This will mark the fourth and final matchup between the two franchises. The Supernovas came out with a 3-1 victorywhen the two teams faced off for the first time in Omaha on Feb. 18. The Supernovas had one of their best offensive performances of the season, hitting .299 with only 11 errors on 137 swings. Team captain Brooke Nuneviller and Bethania de la Cruz combined for 27 of the team's 52 kills, with Nuneviller recording a team-high 14 kills along with 14 digs for a double-double.
The teams met again a week later, with Omaha winning 3-1, thanks to 15 kills from Nuneviller and 10 from rookie opposite Maggie Cartwright, who shined in her professional volleyball debut. The Supernovas returned to Orlando on March 9 where the two teams battled to five sets, but it was Omaha who came out on top once again after dominating the fifth set 15-6 to secure Omaha’s third-straight win. Nuneviller shined with a season-high 20 kills and a season-best .313 hitting percentage which won her the Pro Volleyball Federation Player of the Week award.
The Supernovas aim to bounce back after dropping a 3-1 match to Atlanta in a battle for first place in the league. That loss snapped a three-match winning streak for Omaha which included two wins over Orlando during that span.
Saturday’s match is expected to be a contest of serving, with both teams leading the Pro Volleyball Federation in aces per match – the Supernovas first with 5.18 and the Valkyries second with 4.18. The top servers include Omaha’s de la Cruz with a league-leading 21 aces in 11 matches, followed by Orlando’s Adora Anae (13) and setter Wilma Rivera (12).
Blocking will also be a major factor, especially for the Valkyries who have two of the top four blockers in the league. Kaz Brown has a league-high 37 blocks going into Saturday while James Madison graduate M’Kaela White is fourth with 29. The Supernovas aren’t too shabby in that category either as Tori Dixon is now tied second in the league with 32 blocks after collecting three versus Atlanta. Hristina Vuchkova has quickly shot up the block leaderboard after her first eight matches. She has 25 blocks in those eight contests which has her sixth among all players.
Slowing Orlando’s attack, led by Anae and rookie Jill Gillen, will be key for Omaha. Anae is second in the league with 182 kills, and Gillen is third with 169, while Nuneviller leads the Supernovas with 136 kills.
Following Saturday’s contest, the Supernovas take a 12-day break before hosting the Grand Rapids Rise on Thursday, March 28 at the CHI Health Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CST.