OMAHA, Neb. – The first place and postseason-bound Omaha Supernovas, Nebraska’s professional volleyball team and first pro volleyball champions, held a resurgent Columbus Fury team to a .083 hitting percentage in the fifth set to claim a 21-25, 25-20, 26-24, 23-25, 15-9 marathon victory Friday night in front of 9,517 fans on Kiewit Court at the CHI Health Center.
The Supernovas (18-7) received another outstanding match from star outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller, who displayed her two-way game by hammering a match-high 18 kills on a .311 clip with 18 digs. Reagan Cooper kept pace by tying her teammate at 18 points, which was made up of 15 kills, two blocks and one ace – plus seven digs and two assists. Opposite Kelsie Payne turned in another double-double with a 13-kill, 12-dig performance while also adding a pair of blocks.
Rookie middle blocker Phoebe Awoleye was a main offensive threat on Friday, coming off the bench to finish with nine kills on a .467 hitting percentage and one block. Fellow rookie middle Toyosi Onabanjo collected seven kills (.462) with one block. Kaitlyn Hord posted a trio of kills and blocks while Kayla Caffey recorded four kills.
Olympic setter Natalia Valentín-Anderson dished out a season-high 52 assists with 14 digs, two aces and one kill. Libero Allison Whitten racked up 12 digs off the bench with two assists. The Supernovas hit .292 in the match and reached double-digit blocks for the fifth time in the last six matches with 10.
The Fury (8-17) got a team-high 16 kills and 11 digs from outside hitter Kaylee Cox while Morgan Lewis paced the team with 18 points on 15 kills and three blocks. Columbus hit .230 in the match with 13 blocks and three aces.
The Supernovas return to Kiewit Court at the CHI Health Center on Sunday, April 27 for the 2025 home finale against the Vegas Thrill with first serve set for 3 p.m. CDT. The match will be broadcast statewide on News Channel Nebraska and streamed on the PVF YouTube Channel. It can also be heard on the Supernovas Radio Network.
Key Notes
- Brooke Nuneviller reached a pair of key milestones Friday night. The Oregon product surpassed 700 points with the Supernovas and now has 709 in less than two seasons. She also eclipsed 600 career digs with her Omaha career total now at 616.
- Kaitlyn Hord became the Supernovas all-time leader in blocks with 77, passing Hristina Vuchkova who collected 76 in the inaugural 2024 season. Both numbers include the postseason.
- The Supernovas tied their team record for most kills in a five-set match with 70.
Set 1: Omaha and Columbus exchanged points to begin the match with Caffey powering down a kill and Janice Leao answering with a block. Nuneviller fired back with a pair of kills for the Supernovas before the teams traded errors to even the score at three. Payne took control with two straight kills, and Hord followed with a block. Cox got the Fury rolling with a kill, but Payne responded at the net with a block of her own. Leao made her presence felt with two blocks and a kill to tie the set at seven. Hord and Nuneviller both scored for Omaha, but Megan Courtney-Lush punched back with a kill for Columbus. Payne kept Omaha steady with a kill, but the teams continued to trade points off errors. The Fury’s Morgan Lewis and Cox connected for kills, and Leao added another block to nudge Columbus ahead. Cooper stopped the run with a kill, then Cox answered immediately for the Fury. Payne put Omaha back on top heading into the media timeout, but Leao came out swinging for Columbus. Caffey and Cooper teamed up for kills to give Omaha an 18-16 lead. Courtney-Lush responded with a kill and a block to tie the set again. Nuneviller and Lewis traded kills before Payne gave Omaha a slight edge. A pair of Supernova errors swung momentum back to the Fury to put them ahead 21-20. Payne came through with another kill, but the Fury closed strong with a 4-0 run behind kills from Izabella Rapacz, Leao, and Cox. Leao added a final block to give Columbus the 25-21 win.
The Supernovas hit .206 in the set with two blocks. Payne had a dominant offensive set with six kills on a .364 clip. The Fury posted a .219 hitting percentage with six blocks. Leao started strong with five blocks and three kills in the set.
Set 2: Columbus struck first with a kill from Lewis, but a failed challenge gave Omaha their opening point. Lewis kept the Fury rolling with another kill before the teams traded errors to knot the score at three. Nuneviller fired one down for the Supernovas before Ashley Wenz and Cox answered with kills for Columbus. Payne kept Omaha in it with a kill, but Leao responded to keep the Fury ahead. Hord made her presence known with a block, and Cooper followed with an ace to swing momentum Omaha’s way for an 8-6 lead. The Fury answered with kills from Cox and Courtney-Lush. Nuneviller and Lewis then traded two kills each in a back-and-forth stretch to tie the set at ten. Caffey buried a kill to push Omaha forward, but Abby Walker and Leao fired back with a kill and block for the Fury. Cooper delivered a kill to keep Omaha close, but Lewis countered with another point. Hord and Lewis traded kills before Cox added an ace, and Lewis posted a block to push Columbus ahead 17- 15. Hord found the floor again for Omaha, but Lewis continued to lead the Fury attack with a kill. Awoleye connected for a big kill to shift momentum, but Lewis fired back once again. Cooper slammed down a kill to ignite a key four-point run with another kill and block from Cooper, plus an Awoleye stuff to take a 21-19 lead. Wenz stopped the run briefly for the Fury with a kill, but Nuneviller and Cooper answered with back-to-back tallies for a 23-20 lead to force a Columbus timeout. Onabanjo shut the door with two points, including an overpass kill to lock up a 25-20 set two win for the Supernovas – who ended the set on an 8-1 run.
Omaha hit .333 with three blocks and the ace from Cooper. The Kansas grad teamed up with Nuneviller for four kills apiece. The Fury recorded a .211 hitting percentage with three blocks and an ace from Cox. Lewis went off for seven kills in the set on a .545 clip.
Set 3: The set started strong with a kill from Cooper and an ace from Valentín-Anderson. Fury responded with kills from Courtney-Lush and Lewis, but Awoleye and Payne quickly answered with kills of their own for Omaha. Cox picked up another kill for the Fury before Valentín-Anderson made it 6-4 with a setter dump. Fury stayed aggressive with another Cox kill, but Cooper helped Omaha keep pace before a Supernovas error allowed the Fury to side out. Valentín-Anderson’s second ace of the set and an Awoleye kill made up a quick 3-0 run to extend Omaha’s lead to 10-6 . Courtney-Lush tallied a kill for Columbus, but Nuneviller responded right after to keep the lead at four. The Fury refused to go away as a pair of Supernovas errors and kills from Courtney-Lush and Cox capped a 4-0 run to tie the set at 12. Omaha regained momentum with two kills from Nuneviller and a block by Onabanjo. After Cox the deficit to one, Columbus followed with two errors to put the lead at 17-14. Leao responded with a kill to break the run. A hitting error and Lewis block tied the set again at 17. Payne came up with another kill, but a block from Beta Dumančić kept things tight. Late in the set, Awoleye and Nuneviller added kills to keep the score tied, but the Fury’s Izabella Rapacz fired off two key kills to give the Fury a 22-20 advantage. Following an Onabanjo kill, Rapacz put down another ball for the Fury to give Columbus set point at 24-22. Cooper extended the set with a kill as Lindsay Krause entered the match as a serving sub. She continuously served tough balls, forcing the Fury out of system leading to back-to-back kills from Cooper and Awoleye to force a timeout with Omaha at set point. Cooper capped the 4-0 run with a final kill to deliver a dramatic 26-24 comeback set win for the Supernovas.
Omaha hit .289 with one block and two aces. Cooper led the offense with five kills (.364) while Nuneviller and Awoleye each tallied four. Columbus finished with a .231 team clip and two blocks. Cox collected four kills in the set to lead the team.
Set 4: The set began with a Courtney-Lush kill for the Fury, but Awoleye answered for Omaha. After a Lewis kill and Columbus error to tie the score at two, the Fury went on a strong run. Lewis posted two more kills, while Dumančić and Cox each added one to force the Supernovas to call an early timeout trailing 6-2. Omaha stopped the momentum with a Nuneviller kill and took advantage of two Fury errors to climb within one. However, Dumančić and Lewis picked up more kills for Fury before Onabanjo added a kill for Omaha. Cox followed with another kill, and Rapacz delivered an ace to push the Fury’s lead to 11-6. The Supernovas picked up two quick points off Fury errors, but a Leao kill kept Columbus moving forward. After a Cooper kill for Omaha, Courtney-Lush scored again for the Fury. Nuneviller responded with back-to-back kills, but a successful Dumančić middle attack and Courtney-Lush ace sent the Fury into the media timeout out ahead 16-11. Out of the break, Onabanjo and Nuneviller each posted kills, but Wilma Rivera and Lewis helped Columbus maintain the lead with kills of their own. Omaha fought back behind two kills from Awoleye to cut the gap and force the Fury to call a timeout at 19-18. Columbus used the break to regroup as Courtney-Lush picked up two more kills and Dumančić put away an overpass to build a 22-18 lead. Payne stepped up in crunch time with a kill and block. A Fury hitting error trimmed the lead to 22-2, but Courtney-Lush hit a nice angle attack for a 23-21 edge. After Dumančić gave Columbus a set point, Cooper kept Omaha alive with a kill. A Rapacz attack initially looked long, but she clipped the fingers of Supernovas attackers to send the match into a decisive fifth set with a 25-23 win.
The Omaha offense went off with a .355 team hitting percentage and one block. Awoleye went a perfect four-for-four while Nuneviller also tallied four kills. The Fury ended the set with a .333 clip and two aces. Courtney-Lush recorded five kills in the set on a .375 hitting percentage.
Set 5: The final set opened with a Lewis kill for the Fury, but Omaha answered quickly with two kills from Payne and a kill from Cooper to jump ahead 3-1. Leao recorded her franchise record eighth block of the night for Columbus, but Awoleye and Nuneviller responded with kills to keep the Supernovas in control at 5-2. Courtney-Lush picked up a kill for the Fury, but Payne answered right back for the Supernovas. The two teams traded points with another Courtney-Lush kill before Onabanjo scored to push Omaha’s lead to 8-4. Rapacz tallied a kill for the Fury, but a service error and consecutive kills from Nuneviller and Onabanjo forced a Columbus timeout at 11-5. Cox heated up for the Fury, tallying the next four points for Columbus who cut the lead to 12-9. Podraza blocked a line attack to end the run, and Awoleye copied her teammate with another block. Cooper ended a long night with a final kill for a 15-9 set win.
The Supernovas hit .280 with three blocks as Nuneviller put down three kills on six swings. The Fury were shut down for their worst set of the night with a .083 clip alongside two blocks. Cox contributed four of the team’s seven kills in the set.
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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.