OMAHA, Nebraska – No team will make it through the inaugural League One Volleyball season unbeaten.
LOVB Austin took care of that Saturday by winning the first two sets at LOVB Omaha 25-23, 25-20, and then dominating the third, leading by as many as 11 points before closing it out 25-15.
It left Omaha, coming off a tough four-set victory the night before over LOVB Madison, 3-1 on the year. Austin, playing for the first time in 10 days, is 2-2.
Condensed Match Replay | Match Stats | LOVB Austin Roster | LOVB Omaha Roster
Madisen Skinner continued to sparkle as an opposite hitter. She had 10 kills, hit .450, and added two blocks and was named player of the match.
Former Texas teammate Logan Eggleston had nine kills, two blocks and seven digs. Veteran Juliann Faucett had nine kills, hit .500, and had two digs. Anna Haak had seven kills with one error in 14 attacks to hit .429 to go with a block, an assist and six digs. Middle Molly McCage had only three kills but no errors in seven swings and added an ace, two digs and four blocks. The other middle, Chiaka Ogbogu, had six kills with no errors in 13 attacks and also four blocks and two digs.
Austin held a 13-3 blocks advantage and had five aces to Omaha's two.
Austin hit a whopping .409 as setters Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres and Carli Lloyd combined for 37 assists, four aces and seven digs. Libero Kotoe Inoue had 10 digs and five assists.
"The setters did a good job of distributing the offense," Madi said. "We weren't too reliant on any position and it gave them a new look every time. And people were producing across the board."
Coach Marco Bonitta praised his team.
"Last week we practiced so good and prepared with great attention to this match," Bonitta said. "We knew the key to the match should be the first set, because yesterday they played two hours and more. It's just the schedule but the key was the first set. Congratulations to my team, because we won 25-23."
Omaha setters Laura Dijkema and Gabby Blossom combined for just 27 assists as their team hit .180.
"That was uncharacteristically inconsistent for us," Omaha coach Suzie Fritz said.
Canadian national teamer Vicky Savard took the court for the first time this season and led Omaha with 10 kills, hitting .286, and had two aces and two digs.
"It was so really fun to be out there with the girls," Vicky said. "Hopefully next time – no, not hopefully – I will bring more consistency."
Candelaria Herrera continued to play strong in the middle for Omaha, this time with seven kills in 12 errorless attempts to hit .583. She had a block, three digs and an assist. Jordan Larson had seven kills, five digs and an assist, and Emily Thater had five kills, two blocks and an assist.
Libero Justine Wong-Orantes had nine digs and three assists.
"We leave that one disappointed," Coach Suzie said. "We don't want to make excuses about the back-to-back, but it is a tough challenge to prepare for two opponents and come back on the second night.
"And that's a very, very good volleyball team. I want to give them complete respect. I thought they played incredibly well, probably as well as we have seen them or scouted them. They did things a little bit different. Ran a 6-2 most of the time, giving them more physicality to them, which I think we really struggled with."
LOVB Austin is next in action when it plays LOVB Salt Lake in Atlanta on Saturday, February 1. LOVB Omaha is off until the same day when it plays at LOVB Atlanta.
