OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha Supernovas, the world’s leading professional volleyball franchise, made another late push after facing an early deficit, but the Columbus Fury (2-3) snapped an eight-game losing streak to Omaha (2-3) with a 25-23, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21 win Thursday night on Kiewit Court at the CHI Health Center in front of 7,126.
Outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller continued her recent tear with another huge outing, scoring 22 points on 20 kills (.314) and two blocks alongside nine digs and one assist. She was aided by Sarah Parsons, who bounced back with 15 kills on a .333 hitting percentage while also adding three blocks, seven digs and one assist. Opposite Emily Londot made her 12th career start for the Supernovas, hammering 13 kills (.267) with 13 digs for a double-double, including two blocks.
Creighton alumna and Omaha first-round pick Kiara Reinhardt made her first career professional start and finished with five kills and a team-high two aces. Toyosi Onabanjo (three kills, one block) and Elise Goetzinger (two kills) also saw action.
Setter Sydney Hilley logged impressive numbers, tallying a season-high 55 assists for 13.75 per set to go along with six digs, two blocks, two kills and one ace. Libero Morgan Hentz was all over the floor for Omaha, recording a season-best 21 digs.
Overall, the Supernovas had a .273 hitting percentage with a season-high 10 blocks and three aces. Omaha totaled 60 digs and 59 assists but tallied 13 service errors.
Middle blocker Regan Pittman-Nelson spearheaded the Columbus attack with a team-leading 13 kills on a .455 clip. Opposite Raina Terry added 11 kills, two aces and two blocks to tie Pittman-Nelson for the Fury high in points with 15. Columbus hit .267 as a team with eight blocks, two aces, 64 digs and 52 assists.
The Supernovas hit the road to take on the lone remaining undefeated team in MLV with a Saturday night battle against the Indy Ignite (3-0) at 6 p.m. CST at Fishers Event Center. The match will be streamed on the MLV YouTube channeland can be heard worldwide on the Supernovas Radio Network, headlined by flagship station KCRO 660 AM.
Key Notes
- Since starting the season on a slow note, Brooke Nuneviller has exploded in the last four matches, recording 4.94 points, 4.67 kills, and 2.83 digs per set across 18 sets.
- That includes three-straight matches with Nuneviller tallying at least 20 points — a first in her Supernovas career.
- Sydney Hilley has recorded at least 50 assists in three of the last four matches, including a season-high 55 on Thursday.
- Columbus’ win over Omaha is the team’s first since defeating the Supernovas in their first-ever matchup on Feb. 21, 2024, which was also the Fury’s first-ever home match at Nationwide Arena.
- Thursday’s loss marks the first three-match losing streak in franchise history.
- It is the first time since Feb. 7, 2024, that the Supernovas overall record is below .500.
Set 1: Reinhardt opened the match with a kill from the middle, but an Omaha service error tied it at one apiece. Londot secured a kill down the line, Hilley blocked a Columbus attack and Nuneviller tallied her first kill for an early 4-1 Supernovas advantage. Both teams struggled from the service line, trading errors before Pittman-Nelson and Colon made it a one-point set with a pair of kills. Another service error by Omaha and a Terry termination tied the set at eight. Abby Walker pounded a set from Evans and Colon followed with a back-row kill to give the Fury an 11-9 edge. Parsons ended the Columbus momentum with a kill, but Terry blocked a Nuneviller attack. Pittman-Nelson succeeded on the slide and Terry aced the Supernovas on the next point to force an Omaha timeout at 14-11. Nuneviller and Reinhardt exchanged points with Pittman-Nelson, but the Supernovas’ fourth service error of the set put the Fury ahead 16-13 at the media timeout. Walker recorded a block out of the stoppage, but Nuneviller rallied with a tooling of the block and Parsons stuffed an attack. Columbus kept the pressure on as Evans found the floor on an attack from the front row. Walker posted her second block of the set and a Londot hitting error put the Fury ahead 20-15. Omaha came out firing from the timeout, getting a hitting error from Colon and a Londot cut shot to force a Columbus timeout at 20-17. Walker sided out following the timeout, but Nuneviller logged another kill from the back row. Parsons rejected Terry from the pin to close the deficit to two. Despite a long review for a net touch, Walker slammed down a kill from the middle to make it 22-19 Fury. Goetzinger came back with a slide kill, but a Pittman-Nelson point and a Goetzinger hitting error gave Columbus set point. Nuneviller found the floor for a kill and Parsons terminated to keep Omaha alive, forcing a Fury timeout at 24-22. Lush sent an attack across the river and out of play, but an Evans attack squeaked by the Supernovas defense to take the deuce set, 25-23.
Omaha hit .237 on 38 swings, recording three blocks but zero aces. Nuneviller continued her tear from the weekend prior, securing five kills. Columbus hit .229 with two blocks and one ace as Walker and Pittman-Nelson shared the team high with four kills apiece.
Set 2: Action was back and forth to start the set, with Parsons firing out for two of Omaha’s first three kills, but Colon had a response with two points of her own. Pittman-Nelson and Colon followed each other with kills to give Columbus a two-point edge at 6-4. Service errors kept the Supernovas in it, but a Londot shot that just missed, plus a Terry termination, made it 9-6 Fury. Hilley sneaked in a setter dump, but the momentum was short-lived with a 6-2 run from the Fury as Lush and Terry collected two kills apiece for a 13-8 Columbus lead to force an Omaha timeout. Parsons sided out for the Supernovas with a kill, followed by Hilley’s second block of the match. Parsons put it in the net for a service error, but Nuneviller kept the Supernovas surge going by tooling the Pittman-Nelson block, which survived a Columbus challenge. The stoppage iced Goetzinger, who put it low for a service error. Walker came out on top in a joust battle with Hilley to send the Fury up 16-11 at the media timeout. Londot fired up the CHI crowd with a blast off a Columbus defender. Nuneviller roofed a left-pin attack and Reinhardt threw down a middle set to stamp a 3-0 run and force a timeout by the Fury at 16-14. Colon backed up Columbus with two kills to keep a slim lead. Nuneviller had a chance to put Omaha within one with a back-row attack, but Walker came up with the block kill. Londot tooled the block, but Pittman-Nelson terminated from the middle, Lush put down an overpass kill and a Parsons error gave the Fury a 22-17 advantage. The Supernovas did not go away quietly, taking advantage of two Fury errors plus another Nuneviller block to force a timeout at 22-20. The Oregon product pushed the run to four with another point, but Pittman-Nelson once again silenced the arena with a kill. The Fury put the ball into the net on a serve, but Pittman-Nelson terminated on the slide for set point. Colon found the back line for a set-ending kill, giving Columbus a 2-0 match lead with a 25-22 set win.
Omaha recorded a .211 hitting percentage with three blocks and no aces. Londot discovered more success from the right, tallying a team-high four kills. The Fury used its arsenal to hit .326 in the set with a pair of blocks but no aces. Colon came alive for six kills on a .556 clip to lead all players.
Set 3: Londot roofed a Fury attack to start the set, but Terry responded with a precise cut shot. Tied at three, Parsons heated up with three straight kills for Omaha, but Lush kept pace with two of her own to keep the set even at five. Londot fired a ball down the line for a kill, with a Hilley ace and a Columbus center-line violation providing an 8-5 Supernovas cushion. From there, the errors piled up as Omaha committed a service error, hitting error and reach-over to tie the set at eight. Walker and Colon delivered two more kills to give Columbus a 10-8 lead, but the tide suddenly turned. Londot found the floor and Reinhardt delivered a serving clinic, firing two aces sandwiched between a Londot overpass kill for a 16-11 lead at the media timeout. Terry sided out for the Fury, but Nuneviller answered with back-to-back kills to extend the Omaha advantage to 18-12. Terry once again led the Columbus point scoring with a kill and an ace. Parsons and Londot came up with back-to-back points to keep a steady lead. The two squads exchanged blows in the final stages, including two kills from Reinhardt and another from Londot before Nuneviller put an end to the set with a kill for a 25-19 victory.
The Supernovas found their offensive groove, hitting .472 with two blocks and three aces. Londot and Nuneviller combined for 12 kills (six apiece) to lead all players. Columbus still hit .281 but had no blocks or aces. Terry led the way with four kills.
Set 4: Not much separated the two teams in the early stages of the set, but Pittman-Nelson could not miss from the middle with a pair of kills. Tied at four, consecutive Omaha hitting errors gave the Fury a leg up, but Onabanjo bounced back from her own error with a kill. Pittman-Nelson found the floor again and Akasha Anderson stuffed a Reinhardt slide for an 8-5 Columbus lead. Each team continued to side out at a high rate, but back-to-back kills from Nuneviller and Parsons put Omaha within one. Lush steadied the Fury ship with a kill and Evans followed with a kill. Another Pittman-Nelson slide pushed the lead to three. Nuneviller terminated on her second swing of the rally for a point. After a Hentz diving dig, Parsons took advantage with her own kill, but a Hilley service error kept Columbus ahead 16-14 at the media timeout. Nuneviller and Parsons did their best to keep Omaha in range, but another set of errors pushed the lead back to 19-16. Nuneviller secured another point and Londot came up with a solo stuff, but the errors followed the Supernovas as a service miscue and Pittman-Nelson block took the gas out of Omaha with a 23-20 score. The Supernovas climbed back to 23-21, but Lush gave Columbus match point before a four-hit violation gave the Fury a match win with a 25-21 set four victory.
Omaha hit .186 in the set with two blocks and zero aces as Nuneviller led the Supernovas again with six kills. Columbus did not fare much better with a .222 clip, but secured four blocks. Pittman-Nelson haunted the Supernovas, leading the Fury with four kills and two blocks.
