SAN DIEGO, Ca. — Rookie opposite Emily Londot bounced back from a slow start to deliver a career-best performance, tallying a match-high 22 points to lead the Omaha Supernovas (8-3) to a 22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 29-27 four-set victory over the San Diego Mojo (3-8) Thursday night at Viejas Arena.
The Ohio State graduate struggled early, hitting -.273 with one kill and two digs in the opening set. However, she bounced back in dominant fashion, recording 17 kills on a .307 hitting percentage while adding nine digs and four blocks over the final three sets. Her 18 total kills marked both a career and match high.
The Supernovas won their fourth-straight match to equal a franchise record, which started when Londot entered the lineup on Feb. 6 in Omaha’s sweep over the Indy Ignite. Since beginning the season 2-2, the Supernovas have won six of their past seven matches which includes a league-leading five sweeps.
Aside from Londot, the Supernovas had three players reach double figure points. 2025 PVF All-Stars Brooke Nuneviller (16 points) and Kaitlyn Hord (15 points) each had standout nights. Nuneviller put down 16 kills and tied her season high with 19 digs. Hord tallied nine kills on a .529 clip with a match-high six blocks while also adding three digs and one assist. Reagan Cooper had 11 points on the night including 10 kills, nine digs and her team-leading 10th ace of the season.
Setter Natalia Valentín-Anderson dished out a season-best 48 assists with 13 digs for another double-double. She also tied her season high with four kills on five attacks for an .800 clip. Fellow PVF All-Star libero Camila Gómez had 17 digs and chipped in four assists. Middle blocker Kayla Caffey put together an efficient offensive night with five kills (.308), one block and a pair of digs.
As a team, Omaha hit .236 with Cooper’s lone ace and 12 blocks — which marks the third time in the last four matches the Supernovas have posted double-digit stuffs.
Kendra Dahlke led the Mojo with 18 points consisting of 16 kills, one block and one ace. She was aided by another former Buckeye in Jenaisya Moore who produced 14 points and 12 kills and two blocks.
Nuneviller, Hord and Gómez will now head to Indy to compete in the inaugural PVF All-Star match on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 12:30 p.m. CST on CBS.
The Supernovas now prepare for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle against the Orlando Valkyries next Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. It will also mark the return of former Creighton volleyball stars Norah Sis and Maddy Bilinovic to Omaha. The match will be broadcasted live on News Channel Nebraska and streamed on the PVF YouTube channel.
The Supernovas follow up with a 3 p.m. CST first serve against the Indy Ignite on Sunday, March 2 at the CHI Health Center.
News Channel Nebraska and the PVF YouTube channel will provide TV and streaming coverage for both matches.
Key Notes
- With Omaha winning, and Vegas getting swept by Orlando, the Supernovas have moved into sole first place in the PVF standings.
- The Supernovas won their first-ever match at Viejas Arena. They went 0-2 in their pair of visits to San Diego last season. It’s also the first time in the series that a team has won consecutive matches.
- Omaha’s 29-27 fourth-set win moves the franchise to 8-5 all-time in extra point sets. They are 1-1 this season after dropping a 24-26 third set to Vegas on Jan. 17.
- Kaitlyn Hord’s .529 hitting percentage becomes the fourth-highest individual clip in franchise history. Plus, her six blocks tied a franchise record for most individual blocks in a four-set match.
- Brooke Nuneviller tied her season high in digs with 19. Her 16-kill, 19-dig performance is her seventh double-double of the season and third straight.
Set 1: Caffey got the Supernovas offense rolling with an early kill. Back-to-back kills from Dahlke and Moore put the Mojo ahead 7-4, but Nuneviller sparked a 3-0 run with her first two kills of the match to tie the set at seven. Cooper tied the match at nine with her first kill. Hord followed with a block and termination as part of a 3-0 burst to give Omaha a 12-10 edge. San Diego rallied for a 4-1 run as Moore recorded a kill and block as part of three consecutive points to give the Mojo a 14-13 advantage. A service error tied the set at 15, but a 3-0 outbreak for San Diego — caused by a pair of Supernovas errors — put the lead at 18-15. Cooper and Nuneviller each put down two kills to keep the deficit at three. Trailing 24-20, a Nuneviller kill and Mojo error put the San Diego advantage at 24-22, A cut shot from Dahlke painted the line for the set-winning kill to give the Mojo a 25-22 opening set victory.
The Supernovas were limited to a .089 hitting percentage with Nuneviller’s four kills being a team high. The Mojo hit better at .160 with Dahlke putting down five kills for a match high in the set.
Set 2: San Diego grabbed a quick 3-1 lead, but Hord jump started a 4-0 run for the Supernovas as she put away an overpass and recorded another block for a 5-3 lead. Hord added another kill while Londot got into the block party to extend the advantage to 7-4. Nuneviller got into the action with a termination. A Supernovas service error followed by a Lauren Page overpass kill cut the lead to 10-9, but Cooper connected on a swing to end the shift of momentum. Leading 11-10, Omaha fired off for another extended run — this time 4-0 as Hord posted another stuff while Cooper and Londot put down back-to-back kills for a 15-10 lead. The Mojo answered with a trio of points as a Moore kill, Leyla Blackwell ace and Ronika Stone block made up the run. Nuneviller tallied another kill to keep the lead at two with a 19-17 edge. Next, Her and Cooper had one kill apiece to extend the Omaha advantage to 21-17. Hord’s third block of the set put the Supernovas ahead 22-18. A Londot swing hit the floor to give Omaha set point which was finished off with a Mojo hitting error for a 25-20 set win.
The Supernovas offense found its way in the set with a .297 hitting percentage as Londot put down a team-high five kills on a .333 clip. Hord added a trio of kills on six swings while posting three blocks. The Omaha block caused problems for the Mojo who hit .111 with a team-high five kills from Page.
Set 3: The Supernovas got out to a quick start thanks to a Londot kill and block. Valentín-Anderson terminated on a swing as Omaha built an early 4-1 lead. The Mojo secured a pair of blocks to cut the deficit to 6-5, but Caffey halted the run with a kill. Londot and Cooper went back-to-back to push the Supernovas to a 10-7 lead, but that was erased quickly with a 3-0 run from San Diego as the Supernovas committed a pair of errors. Tied at 11, Omaha ran off seven-straight points which included two Londot kills and one block, plus Cooper’s team-leading 10th ace of the season. Dahlke sparked a 3-0 run for the Mojo behind her serving as she recorded an ace and a kill to cut the Supernovas lead to 20-16. Valentín-Anderson answered with a setter dump which was followed another Cooper kill and San Diego hitting error to force a Mojo timeout at 23-16 Omaha. Caffey gave the Supernovas set point by putting away an overpass. A failed challenge by San Diego gave Omaha a dominant 25-16 set win.
The Supernovas hit .297 for the second-straight set as Londot led the team again with five kills on a .400 clip. The Mojo recorded only seven kills with .059 team hitting percentage. Dahlke and Page each posted two kills to lead San Diego.
Set 4: Blackwell gave the Mojo a positive start with a block which was followed by a Dahlke kill for a quick 2-0 San Diego lead. Caffey got Omaha on the board with a kill. Moore terminated on a swing and a Supernovas hitting error put San Diego ahead 6-3. The Mojo kept a steady lead throughout the set as neither team put down consecutive points until a 3-0 run by San Diego — which included two blocks — to put them ahead 17-12. Omaha fired back as Londot continued her stellar night with three more kills while the Supernovas also received a termination from each of Valentín-Anderson, Hord and Nuneviller to cut the Mojo lead to 20-19 forcing a timeout. Londot tied it up at 20, but a combination of a Lee Da-yeong setter dump and Omaha hitting error put the Mojo up 22-20. Londot and Nuneviller answered with back-to-back kills to tie the set, but two consecutive kills from Dahlke made it set point for San Diego. After a Mojo hitting error, Cooper kept the Supernovas alive with a kill to tie the match at 24. Cooper and Hord each fended off set points from the Mojo. Londot decided to put the match away with a kill to give Omaha match point before sealing the four-set win with a block for a 29-27 set final.
The Supernovas hit .278 as Londot had a team-high seven kills with Nuneviller not far behind with six. San Diego had their best set of the night offensively with a .244 hitting percentage and a team-high seven kills (.400) from Dahlke.