OMAHA, Neb. – The first-place Omaha Supernovas, Nebraska’s professional volleyball team and first pro volleyball champions, leaned on a scrappy defensive performance and another strong outing from Reagan Cooper to beat the Grand Rapids Rise (8-12) 25-20, 17-25, 25-19, 25-22, Sunday afternoon on Kiewit Court at the CHI Health Center in front of 9,457 fans.
Omaha’s floor defense proved to be the difference as libero Camila Gómez was everywhere for the Supernovas (14-5), collecting 24 digs which marks a franchise record in a four-set match. Setter Natalia Valentín-Anderson was also a key component adding 20 digs of her own while dishing out 41 assists. The two combined for 44 of the team’s 83 digs which was only five shy of matching the four-set franchise record of 88.
Cooper ended the weekend with her second straight double-digit kill performance, pouring in a team-high 15 kills and seven digs. Opposite Kelsie Payne played well and was part of the team’s superb defensive performance with 14 digs and a season-high 12 kills. Brooke Nuneviller followed her teammate with a double-double by tallying 11 kills, 12 digs and one block.
Middle blocker Kayla Caffey continued her high-level play Sunday, finishing with nine kills, two aces and one block. She hit over .400 for the sixth straight match, closing with a .412 hitting percentage. Kaitlyn Hord squared off against her chief rival, Allison Bastianelli, in the race for the league lead in blocks and got the upper hand, recording three blocks compared to Bastianelli’s two. Hord also added five kills and three digs. In total, the Supernovas hit .240 as a team with three aces and six blocks.
Rise outside hitter Carli Snyder paced the match with 26 points, which were made up by 20 kills, four blocks and two aces. She also finished with 10 digs and an assist. 2024 Supernovas PVF champion Paige Briggs-Romine made her first return to Omaha and slammed down 14 kills, 15 digs and three blocks. The Rise hit .235 with 12 blocks and four aces.
The Supernovas wrap up their four-match homestand with the team’s first-ever Pink Out on Saturday, April 5 at 6 p.m. CDT. The match will be broadcast statewide on Nebraska Public Media and can be heard on the Supernovas Radio Network.
Key Notes
- Camila Gómez set a franchise record for most digs in a four-set match with 24. She broke her own previous record of 22 earlier this month in Orlando on March 15.
- Natalia Valentín-Anderson recorded her second career 40-assist, 20-dig match with the Supernovas. Both performances have come this season with the first against San Diego on January 19 in Omaha.
- Brooke Nuneviller tallied her 10th double-double of the season with her 11-kill, 12-dig performance.
- Kaitlyn Hord finishes the weekend first in the PVF for most blocks (62) and blocks per set (0.93).
- The Supernovas move to 6-1 all-time against the Rise, whose only victory came in the 2024 regular-season finale, a five-set thriller at Grand Rapids.
- The 15 service errors by Grand Rapids is the second-most by any Supernovas opponent.
Set 1: Nuneviller opened the match with a kill, followed by a Grand Rapids error to give Omaha a 2-0 start. Kaleigh Nelson got the Rise on the board with a kill before Caffey responded for the Supernovas. Former Supernova Briggs-Romine scored for Grand Rapids before Payne and Cooper answered with kills for Omaha. The Rise hit the gas with a 4-1 run by using back-to-back blocks from Nelson, a block from Snyder and a kill from Bastianelli to tie the set. Hord picked up her first point of the night with a kill, but Bastianelli answered. Payne followed with a kill to bring it to 8-7. Snyder responded for the Rise, but Nuneviller added another for Omaha. Briggs-Romine came up big at the net with two blocks before Nuneviller tallied a kill. Caffey terminated on back-to-back swings to stamp a 4-0 run and a 14-11 lead for the Supernovas. Bastianelli and Cooper traded kills, followed by another point from Bastianelli. Payne kept Omaha steady with a kill, but Turner and Snyder added two more for Grand Rapids. Payne added another point, but Snyder kept pace with a kill., Payne and Nuneviler combined for back-to-back kills, forcing a Rise timeout at 21-16 Omaha. Payne continued the run out of the break with an ace, and Nuneviller followed with a block to extend the lead. Grand Rapids halted the Omaha party with an ace and a kill apiece from Jensen and Turner to cut the lead to 23-19. The teams traded errors before a Grand Rapids service error closed out the set, giving Omaha the 25-20 win.
The Supernovas offense hit .190 in the set, getting a team-high five kills from Payne and four from Nuneviller. The team captain tallied the team’s only block of the set while Payne added the lone ace for Omaha. Grand Rapids hit .205 with four kills from Bastianelli on a .571 clip. The Rise were stout at the net with five blocks and the Jensen ace.
Set 2: Omaha jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to back-to-back Grand Rapids attacking errors. Turner got the Rise on the board with a kill, but another error gave the Supernovas a 3-1 edge. Bastianelli responded with a kill, followed by points from Valentín-Anderson and Cooper to extend Omaha’s lead. The Rise rallied for a 5-0 run powered by two kills and a block from Snyder, a block from Nelsen, and an Omaha error to take the lead at 7-5. Caffey halted the run with a kill, but Snyder answered with another for the Rise. Cooper followed with a kill, and two Grand Rapids errors cut the deficit to 9-8. Briggs-Romine caught fire with three kills to jumpstart a 7-1 run for the Rise, who took control with a 16-11 lead at the media timeout. After an exchange of errors, Briggs-Romine and Turner added kills for Grand Rapids. Payne answered with a block, but Bastianelli scored again. Nuneviller and Cooper each tallied kills for Omaha, but a Snyder kill gave the Rise an 18-14 advantage. Snyder’s jump serve was too much for the Supernovas' serve receive, who allowed two aces as part of a 5-0 run to catapult Grand Rapids ahead to 23-15. Emily Londot got on the board with her first and only kill, but Nelson countered with one of her own for Grand Rapids. Hord pounded down the final kill for Omaha as Bastianelli closed out the set for the Rise with a final point to secure a 25-17 win.
Omaha only mustered a .135 hitting percentage with a team-leading three kills from Cooper, plus one block and no aces. The Rise offense went off for a .341 clip with six kills (.556) from Briggs-Romine and five from Snyder. Grand Rapids also totaled two blocks and two aces.
Set 3: Snyder continued the momentum for the Rise out of the intermission by opening the set with a block. An Omaha hitting error pushed the early lead to 2-0 for Grand Rapids, but Cooper quickly answered with a kill. The teams traded early points with kills from Briggs-Romine, Snyder, and Nelson for the Rise, while Cooper, Hord, and Nuneviller kept the Supernovas close. Deadlocked at eight following a Briggs-Romine kill, Cooper ignited a 3-0 run for the Supernovas with Caffey adding an ace for an 11-9 Omaha lead. Snyder delivered two consecutive kills to equal the set again, but Hord triggered another big run (4-0) for Omaha as she tallied a kill and block for a 15-11 lead. Snyder ended the rally with a kill and Nelson followed with a kill and block to cut the lead to one. Cooper, Payne, and Nuneviller each added kills to maintain their lead. Marin Grote entered the match and recorded her first kill of the afternoon, and Bastianelli followed with another to keep the set tight at 19-18. Caffey set in motion Omaha’s final punch with a kill. Another Cooper kill forced a Grand Rapids timeout at 22-18, but out of the break, a Rise error and Cooper kill put it at the Supernovas' set point. Briggs-Romine extended the set for Grand Rapids with a kill, but a service error on the next point closed out the set win for Omaha at 25-19.
The Supernovas hit .297 behind a monster set by Cooper, who tallied eight kills on 12 swings for a .667 clip. Omaha also had a block and one ace. The Rise were stifled to a .195 hitting percentage with three blocks and no aces. Snyder paced the offense with five kills and two blocks for seven points.
Set 4: Omaha started strong with kills from Nuneviller and Caffey. A Rise hitting error put the Supernovas up early 3-0, but Snyder and Nelsen responded with kills for Grand Rapids. Caffey followed the pair with a block to keep the lead at three. Briggs-Romine added a kill before Caffey delivered another ace, and two more Rise errors pushed the Supernovas ahead 8-3. Briggs-Romine added another point, and two Omaha errors cut the lead to two. Hord came up big with two blocks, but Grand Rapids stayed in it with kills from Snyder and Grote. Payne tallied two kills in a brief 3-1 run for Omaha to put the lead at 13-9. Turner and Briggs-Romine added kills for the Rise to cut the deficit. Snyder scored once more, but Omaha pushed ahead with kills from Nuneviller and Cooper. Briggs-Romine and Snyder added kills for the Rise, and Bastianelli provided an ace to make it a one point set. Payne and Hord terminated on swings to keep ahead 19-17. Grand Rapids used kills from Turner and Briggs-Romine, plus a Supernovas net violation to take its first lead of the set at 20-19. That was short lived as Caffey and Nuneviller delivered back-to-back points to put Omaha ahead 21-20. Synder notched another kill to tie the set, but a Rise error and kills from Cooper and Payne put the Supernovas at match point Bastianelli came up with a block to delay the finish, but Payne closed the door with a final kill, giving Omaha the 25-22 win.
The Supernovas hit .314 in the set with three blocks and the Caffey ace. Payne came up clutch with five kills on nine swings for a .556 hitting percentage. The Rise limped to a .167 clip with two blocks and one ace. Snyder led the team with seven kills (.429) while Briggs-Romine added four.
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Every match this season can be heard on the Supernovas Radio Network, led by its flagship station KCRO 660 AM as part of Walnut Media. The SRN can be heard in five states with the support of its affiliates in KXCB Bluffs Country 106.5 FM, Boomer Radio 106.7 FM, ESPN Tri Cities, KNCY in Nebraska City, KGMT in Fairbury and KSID-AM in Sidney.
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ABOUT OMAHA SUPERNOVAS
The Omaha Supernovas are the premier home of professional volleyball, boasting the No. 1 pro volleyball average attendance in the world. The Supernovas 2025 season began on January 10 when they hosted 13,486, becoming the most attended U.S. pro volleyball match in history. The team is owned by global music sensation Jason Derulo and entrepreneur Danny White, Co-Founder of City+Ventures, an investment and business acceleration organization headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.
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