SAN MARCOS, Texas – Déjà vu was at hand Friday night as exactly one week after playing a five-set thriller in Omaha, LOVB Austin and LOVB Omaha delivered once again, this time with Omaha winning 25-23, 17-25, 25-16, 23-25, 15-12 at Strahan Arena.
Match stats | LOVB Omaha roster | LOVB Austin roster
Omaha snapped its seven-match regular season losing streak (nine matches across all competitions) to move to 5-9 while Austin dropped to 5-9. The two are tied for fifth in the League One Volleyball standings.
Omaha setter Laura Dijkema was named Player of the Match after breaking the league record for assists in a single match (62), previously held by Salt Lake’s Jordyn Poulter (57).
“To be honest, I didn’t even know anything about this ‘assist’ system, so I didn’t know what kind of record I made,” said Laura, who announced her retirement from the Dutch national team earlier in the week. “I think our attackers made really good choices in attacks … our reception line [is] really so stable and consistent, so I’m really happy with all of my teammates.”
As a team, LOVB Omaha also set a new league record of 78 kills in a single match.
“We just want to make the last few weeks count,” said Kimberly Drewniok, who had a season-high 21 kills on the night. “We invest so much and we believe in each other.”
Omaha struck first after a back-and-forth set one dictated by offensive play from the visiting middles. Emily Thater and Sami Francis combined for nine of the team’s 21 kills in the frame and hit .571 as a tandem. Austin’s Madisen Skinner began her offensive tear with seven kills on 14 swings.
Emily and Sami each ended with 14 kills on the night.
After being knotted at 15 in the second set, Austin rattled off eight straight points en route to an emphatic win. Anna Haak and Molly McCage paced the Austin offense with 10 combined kills.
The ping-pong match continued in the third with Madi Kubik-Banks and Kimberly Drewniok each going for six kills and a block as Omaha rifled off numerous multi-point runs to take the set win. Anna tacked on four more kills en route to 14 total on the night.
Madisen ensured the match would go five sets with another seven-kill set in the fourth. She ended the night with 22.
In the decisive fifth set, Jaali Winters stepped up offensively, notching four kills while a defensive stronghold of Lexi Rodriguez and Justine Wong-Orantes combined for six digs to seal the victory.
For Austin, Madisen finished the night with her third double-double of the season – 22 kills and 17 digs – behind a .309 hitting efficiency. Molly McCage added 10 more kills for the home side on a night where the team hit .335, its second-best mark of the season.
“Hitting .335 and losing is not an easy thing to do,” LOVB Austin interim head coach Chris McGown said . “That’s as good as we’ve played, I think, since I’ve been here, so that’s a bright spot for us for sure.”
Both squads are back in action Saturday, March 29, on the ESPN family of networks. Omaha plays LOVB Salt Lake in a neutral site match that’ll be streamed on ESPN+ while Austin hosts LOVB Madison for a nationally-broadcast match on ESPN2.
