HENDERSON, Nev. - The Vegas Thrill (8-13) fell to the defending PVF champion Omaha Supernovas (16-5) in four sets (17-25, 20-25, 25-22, 24-26) on Thursday night at Lee's Family Forum.
Omaha is now 2-1 against Vegas this season and will face each other for the final time this season on April 27th in Omaha.
Set One
Hannah Maddux recorded the first two points of the set for Vegas and the set was tied at 3-3 to kick things off. Willow Johnson tied the set, 4-4, with her first kill and Thrill newcomer Adora Anae posted a kill of her own to tie the set, 5-5. Omaha went on a 3-0 run to take an 8-5 cushion as Kaitlyn Hord collected back-to-back blocks before the Thrill called a timeout. Anae and Johnson collected two straight kills to cut the deficit to one, 8-7. Berkeley Oblad of Vegas notched her first kill of the set to also cut the deficit to one, 9-8. Omaha bumped their lead to five, 16-11, after scoring three straight points off of two Ally Batenhorst kills and a Kelsie Payne kill heading into the media timeout. The Supernovas took care of business with a commanding 25-17 set one triumph. Payne totaled six kills, four digs and one solo block, while Natalia Valentin-Anderson captured 10 assists and two digs. For Vegas, Maddux grabbed six kills of her own with two digs, and Alisha Childress put together an eight assist, three dig performance.
Set Two
The Thrill took a solid 5-2 lead to begin set two led by three Maddux kills and a Johnson kill. The Supernovas stormed back to tie the set, 5-5, and Anae put Vegas back in the lead, 7-6, and 8-6, with her third and fourth kills of the match. Vegas libero Mary Shroll set up Johnson for her fourth kill of the match for a 9-8 advantage. Omaha scored two consecutive for a 10-9 lead before Vegas' Morgan Stout tied the match with a kill, 10-10. Omaha's Brooke Nuneviller posted three straight kills to put them up 14-11 and after a Vegas attack error, Omaha went up 16-11 heading into the media timeout. Vegas notched two straight points to cut the deficit to three, 16-13. Payne was lights off collecting 12 kills through the halfway point of the match to put them up 18-14. Carly Graham and Charitie Luper put together two straight kills to cut the deficit to two, 18-16, but Omaha never backed down and went on a 5-0 run for a 23-16 lead and ended with the 25-20 set two win. Payne was lights out with seven kills, two digs and a block, while Omaha hit .406 in total.
Set Three
Anae and Oblad posted two straight kills to put Vegas up 3-2 to start set three. Oblad would tack on another kill for a 4-3 advantage. Childress snuck in a kill for a 6-4 lead, and Omaha was forced to call their first timeout of the match after a block net violation put the Thrill up 8-5. Johnson collected her sixth kill of the match to put the Thrill up 10-8 and Sophie Davis earned her second kill of the match followed by a service ace to go up 12-9. The Supernovas stormed back to tie the set, 12-12, thanks to a Payne block and two Nuneviller kills. Vegas never backed down and went on a 4-0 run for a 16-12 lead heading into the media timeout. Maddux recorded a key block and Anae registered her eighth kill of the set to go up four points. The run grew to 5-0 after a Oblad kill for a 17-12 lead and Omaha's Nuneviller stopped the run with her sixth kill of the match to cut the deficit to four. The Supernovas came all the way back to cut the deficit to one, 19-18, after an Anae attack error, but Anae responded with her ninth kill of the match to put the Thrill up 20-18. Maddux's 14th kill of the match put Vegas up 24-21 and Childress' kill sealed the set three win, 25-22. Anae and Maddux posted four kills apiece, Shroll put together five digs and Vegas tallied a .244 hitting percentage.
Set Four
Omaha took control of set four with a 3-0 cushion, but Vegas crawled back to cut the deficit to one, 4-3. Childress tacked on a kill to cut the deficit to a pair, 8-6, but Ally Batenhorst of Omaha put them up by three, 9-6, with her 11th kill of the match. Omaha's attack error tied the set at 9-9 and Davis put Vegas up 10-9 followed by a Maddux kill that put them up 11-9. Two straight Omaha attack errors put the Thrill up 13-10 and Payne stopped Vegas' run with a kill to cut the deficit to two, 13-11. Maddux kept her groove with her 18th kill of the match followed by a Johnson service ace. Anae was also in a groove as she put Vegas up 16-12 heading into the media timeout with her 10th kill of the match. Back-to-back Supernova points cut their deficit to two, 17-15, and Batenhorst's kill afterwards forced the Thrill to call a timeout with Omaha down one, 17-16. The Supernovas came all the way back to tie the set, 19-19, and Maddux's 19th kill regained Vegas lead to, 20-19. Johnson's ninth kill put Vegas up 21-19 and Omaha's Payne tied the set at 21-21 with her 23rd kill of the match. A Vegas attack error saw Omaha take a 22-21 advantage, but Maddux tied it with her 20th kill of the match. Maddux blocked a key shot to put the Thrill up 23-22 and a Nuneviller's kill tied the set, 23-23. Omaha prevailed afterwards by scoring two straight points for a 26-24 win after a Nuneviller kill. Key Stats Omaha was led by Payne's 22 kills, 11 digs, four blocks and one assist for a .396 hitting percentage. Nuneviller finished with 13 kills, 12 digs, two assists and one block, while Batenhorst tallied 12 kills, 10 digs and a block. Setter Valentin-Anderson registered 44 assists and 15 digs. Vegas' Hannah Maddux led the team with 21 kills, 10 digs and two blocks, while Childress put together 42 assists, 14 digs and two blocks. Anae's home debut for Vegas saw her post 11 kills, 13 digs, one assist and one service ace.
NEXT FOR THE THRILL: Vegas will end its homestand against the Columbus Fury on Sunday, April 13 at 4 p.m. PT on FS2.