Orlando, FLA. — The Omaha Supernovas, Nebraska’s professional volleyball team and first pro volleyball champions, tightened their hold on the top spot in the PVF standings with a hard-fought four-set victory over the second-place Orlando Valkyries (11-6), winning 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, 26-24 on Saturday night at Addition Financial Arena.
The win gives the first-place Supernovas (12-4) a 1 1/2-game lead over the Valkyries (11-6) on top of the league standings, which has been driven by a four-match winning streak and victories in eight of their last nine matches.
Rookie outside hitter Ally Batenhorst fueled Omaha’s attack with another career performance putting down a match-high 22 kills on a .362 hitting percentage alongside eight digs, one block and one ace for 24 points. The former Nebraska volleyball player wraps up a breakout weekend that saw her combine for 40 points (4.44 P/S), 38 kills (4.22 K/S), 16 digs, one block and one ace across nine sets.
Team captain Brooke Nuneviller reached a major milestone on her first dig of the night, becoming the first player in PVF history to record 500 kills and 500 digs. She put up another double-double with 16 kills and 18 digs while adding a trio of assists. Opposite Kelsie Payne tallied a season-high nine kills with five digs, two blocks and an ace for 12 points.
Middle blocker Kayla Caffey showcased her defensive prowess at the net recording her second-straight match with five blocks. She was also an explosive attacker Saturday night with six kills on a .417 hitting percentage. Kaitlyn Hord finished with three blocks to tack on to her league-leading total of 55 on the season.
Setter Mac Podraza completed an all-around double-double by dishing out 41 assists with 10 digs, one ace and the match-ending block. Libero Camila Gómez had one of her best nights of the season with a match-high 22 digs and five assists. The Supernovas hit .232 as a team with 12 blocks and four aces.
Orlando was held to a season-low .167 hitting percentage as star opposite Brittany Abercrombie finished with a team-leading 13 kills. Omaha’s defense did a number on one of the PVF’s MVP favorites, holding her to a season low in hitting percentage (.136) and the lowest kill output since her eight tallies in the season opener against San Diego on January 9. Middle blocker Kaz Brown was the other Valkyrie to reach double figures with 11 kills (.400), five blocks and three aces. Orlando tied its season high with nine aces including four from league leader Natalie Foster.
After playing 10 of their first 16 matches on the road, the Supernovas return to Omaha for a four-match home stand. That begins with a weekend showdown against the Indy Ignite at the CHI Health Center on Saturday, March 15 at 6 p.m. CDT. The match will be Omaha’s first-ever Stripe Out night while being nationally televised on FS1.
Key Notes
- Brooke Nuneviller became the first player in PVF history to post 500 kills and 500 digs. Following Saturday’s win, she’s put up 529 kills (3.53 K/S) and 517 digs (3.45 D/S) across 150 sets in a Supernovas uniform. All numbers include the postseason.
- Camila Gómez reinserted her name into the Supernovas record book by tying the franchise record for most digs (22) in a four-set match.
- The win marks Omaha’s sixth-straight road win, extending the franchise record.
- The Supernovas have also matched the franchise record with four-straight victories.
- Omaha moves to 27-2 all-time when being the first team to reach two sets.
- Orlando’s nine aces are the most by a Supernovas opponent, succeeding its previous record of eight on February 27 in Omaha.
Set 1: The Valkyries shot out of the gate as Courtney Schwan found the floor on a cross-court shot and a team block capped a 4-1 run to begin the match. Nuneviller put down her first kill of the night to end the run, but an Omaha service error and Brown ace extended the Orlando lead to 7-3. Foster got going from the middle with a kill off a quick set from Pornpun Guedpard. She later added an ace to double up the Supernovas at 12-6. Batenhorst ignited a burst of momentum with a kill, which was followed by consecutive hitting errors from Orlando to cut the deficit to three. A pair of errors by Omaha pushed the Orlando lead to 15-10, but Batenhorst served a 4-0 run for the Supernovas as she recorded an ace, plus two kills from Payne and one from Nuneviller. The Oregon product added another termination to keep the deficit at one. Payne tooled the block and Batenhorst followed by taking care of an overpass to tie the set at 19. Payne and Batenhorst once again went back-to-back on kills to give Omaha a 22-21 lead. A service error by Podraza tied the set, but Payne finished again for a 23-22 lead. Brown went off speed on a slide for a kill to tie things again. Payne’s right arm sent back a Valkyrie attack for a block. Serving sub Lindsay Krause and Podraza combined for two consecutive diving digs on Abercrombie — leading to Payne’s sixth kill of the set to lock up a 25-23 deuce game win.
Omaha hit .278 in the set with Payne’s team-leading six kills, plus five from Nuneviller (.333) and four from Batenhorst. The Houston native tallied the team’s only ace while Payne recorded the lone block. Orlando was limited to a .158 hitting percentage with three kills apiece from Abercrombie and Schwan. The Valkyries nailed two aces with two from Foster and one from Brown.
Set 2: Caffey tallied the first kill of the set for the Supernovas on a tip with Batenhorst joining her a point later with a kill. Brown stuffed a Supernovas attack and followed with a kill for a 4-2 Valkyries lead. Brown added to the run with an ace, but Nuneviller kept the lead at two with a kill. Foster swung the momentum back to Orlando with a kill and block. Abercrombie finished on a swing to build the Valkyries lead to 10-4. Nuneviller sided out with a kill. Payne capitalized with an ace on the next point, but an Abercrombie kill and Adora Anae ace stamped a 12-6 lead for Orlando. The Valkyries run continued with two blocks and another ace from Foster to build a 16-7 advantage. Batenhorst woke up the Supernovas attack with three-straight kills, plus a Hord block to cut into the Orlando lead. Batenhorst later added three more tallies to her set total to make it a 19-15 set. Caffey sent back a Foster attack for Omaha’s second block. Batenhorst and Payne finished on back-to-back swings to keep Omaha within striking distance at 22-18. The optimism for a comeback quickly faded after Foster put down a kill and the set-ending ace to lock up a 25-18 Orlando win.
The Supernovas were limited to a .100 hitting percentage with a set-high eight kills from Batenhorst on a .375 clip. Omaha also recorded two blocks and Payne’s second ace. The Valkyries only hit .184 with a team-high six kills (.417) from Abercrombie, but the service pressure was overwhelming with four aces from Orlando.
Set 3: The Valkyries once again opened the set with an early lead at 3-1 behind a pair of Omaha errors and a Schwan kill. Brown terminated from the middle to build the advantage to 5-2. The Supernovas refused to go away using a Hord kill and two errors from the Valkyries to tie the set at five. Batenhorst, Caffey and Nuneviller all tallied kills as the two teams exchanged rallies throughout the early stages of the set. After Batenhorst tied the set off a back-row attack, Payne got a block from the right pin and Podraza served an ace for a 13-11 Supernovas lead. Brown and Abercrombie posted consecutive points for the Valkyries to even the set again, but a Hord block ignited a 3-0 run for Omaha to stretch its advantage to 17-14. Anae started to heat up with a pair of kills for Orlando. Nuneviller pushed one past the bock for a kill before Caffey took care of an overpass with authority. Caffey blocked a tight set attack from Schwan which was followed by a Batenhorst stuff for a 22-16 lead — forcing a Valkyries timeout. Lindsay Vander Weide provided a spark off the bench as part of a double sub for Orlando as she tallied three kills, and put down an ace to make it set point at 24-22. Batenhorst shut down the Valkyrie comeback with a set-ending kill for a 25-22 Omaha win.
The Supernovas offense hit on a .300 clip with Batenhorst once again leading the attack with five kills (.500) while Nuneviller added a trio of terminations. Omaha’s block got rolling with five and the ace from Podraza. Orlando struggled again with a .132 hitting percentage with a team-high five kills from Brown on a .833 clip. The Valkyries had no blocks and one ace from Vander Weide.
Set 4: Podraza fooled the defense with a setter dump for Omaha’s first point of the set. Hord followed by putting away an overpass for an early 2-1 Supernovas lead. Brown led the charge in a 4-1 run for the Valkyries with two kills and a block to build a 5-3 Orlando advantage. Payne and Batenhorst once again tallied consecutive kills to tie the set. Vander Weide continued her success from the previous set by hammering three kills as part of a 4-1 run for the Valkyries to shoot ahead 10-8. Orlando’s surge was short lived following a Nuneviller kill which began a 5-0 run for the Supernovas. Caffey locked up two blocks while Batenhorst had two more kills to push Omaha ahead 13-10. Another Caffey block kept the lead at three with Nuneviller later adding another kill. Vander Weide contributed back-to-back points off a kill and her second ace to cut the lead to one at 18-17. Both teams exchanged points at a rapid pace with each offense terminating on offensive opportunities. Abercrombie kept the Supernovas lead at one with the score at 23-22, but Caffey stepped up in a big moment with a kill to get Omaha to match point at 24-22. Orlando’s block came in to save the day as a triple block on a Batenhorst attack proved to be successful. Shannon Scully followed with a stuff to tie the set at 24 driving the Supernovas into a timeout. Nuneviller showcased her ability as one of the best players in the PVF taking an out-of-system set from near the 10-foot line right for a kill to give the Supernovas their third match point, which was put away with a Podraza block to seal the set win at 26-24.
Omaha hit .267 with one ace and four blocks with three coming from Caffey. Nuneviller paced the offense with six kills on a .312 clip while Batenhorst was right behind her with five. Orlando limped to a .182 hitting percentage with four blocks and the ace from Vander Weide. She led the Valkyries with five kills (.400) while Brown added four on eight swings.
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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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