Geoff Exstrom
OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha Supernovas, Nebraska’s professional volleyball team in the newly-established Professional Volleyball Federation, are excited to announce the official 14-person active roster ahead of Omaha’s franchise opener against the Atlanta Vibe at the CHI Health Center at 7 p.m. for the first Pro Volleyball Federation match.
The final roster includes a mix of NCAA national champions, All-Americans and Olympians. That also includes two college practice players. The Supernovas are proud to present the following players:
No. 1 Natalia Valentín-Anderson, S
No. 2 Sydney Hilley, S
No. 3 Kendall White, L
No. 5 Brooke Nuneviller, OH
No. 6 Tori Dixon, MB
No. 7 Gina-Mancuso-Prososki, OH
No. 10 Jess Schaben-Lansman, OH
No. 13 Paige Briggs, OH
No. 14 Nia Reed, OPP
No. 15 Allison Mayfield, OH
No. 18 Bethania de la Cruz, OH
No. 23 Gabby Thompson, L
No. 27 Emma Willis, MB
No. 81 Danielle Hart, MB
That also includes two practices player who are:
No. 24 Sophia Davis, MB, James Madison
No. 25 Maggie Cartwright, OPP, Arkansas
The Supernovas are led by AVCA Hall of Fame coach Shelton Collier, who brings an illustrious 41-year volleyball coaching career to Omaha. He’s aided by one of the top coaching staffs in the Pro Volleyball Federation which includes Laura ‘Bird’ Kuhn, John Corbelli, John Xie and Thomas Robson.
Omaha enters the inaugural season as the preseason favorites, as revealed in the Pro Volleyball Federation preseason poll which was voted on by every head coach in the league. Supernovas outside hitter Bethania de la Cruz was voted to the preseason All-League team as well.
The Atlanta Vibe comes into Omaha as the Supernovas’ main rival for league supremacy, landing No. 2 in the Pro Volleyball Federation poll with 32 points, compared to Omaha’s 33. The Vibe boasts one of the best outside hitters and liberos in the league with former Kentucky attacker Leah Edmund and Stanford graduate Morgan Hentz.
Tori Dilfer-Stringer looks set to run the offense as the Vibe’s setter. Dilfer-Stringer made her Team U.S.A. debut at the 2022 Pan American Cup after finishing a historic career at Louisville. She was one of the primary reasons why the Cardinals made their first Final Four in 2021 with Dilfer-Stinger making the AVCA All-American First Team marking the first such honor in program history.
The full match notes can be found here.
Coverage of the Supernovas match against the Vibe will be streamed online, free throughout the state, on NewsChannelNebraska.com as well as the free News Channel Nebraska app on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV. Fans are also able to listen to all the action on the ‘Supernovas Radio Network’ with flagship station 93.7 The Ticket FM.
REAL PRO VOLLEYBALL competition will officially begin in the United States with the Omaha Supernovas hosting the Atlanta Vibe in the first match in league history at the CHI Health Center in downtown Omaha on January 24, at 7 p.m. CST. Nebraska supports volleyball better than anyone, as evidenced by the more than 92,000 fans that turned out this season for a collegiate match at the Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium in August, setting a new world record for the highest attended women’s sporting event. Several Supernovas were in attendance and recognized at the world record match.
The Supernovas are one of seven U.S. teams for the 2024 inaugural season: Omaha Supernovas, Atlanta Vibe, Orlando Valkyries, Columbus Fury, Grand Rapids Rise, San Diego Mojo and Vegas Thrill. Three expansion teams, Dallas Pro Volleyball, Kansas City Pro Volleyball and Indianapolis Pro Volleyball have been announced for 2025. The Supernovas will have 12 home and 12 away matches as part of a 24-match schedule across a 16-week regular season.
When the regular season concludes, the Supernovas are aiming to be one of the top four squads in the standings that will compete for the Pro Volleyball Federation Championship in May. The location of the championship will be determined and announced at a later date.
ABOUT OMAHA SUPERNOVAS
The Omaha Supernovas aim to be the premier home of professional volleyball throughout the world. The team is owned by global music sensation Jason Derulo and entrepreneurs Danny White and Chris Erickson, Co-Founders of City+Ventures, an investment and business acceleration organization headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.
ABOUT PRO VOLLEYBALL FEDERATION
Pro Volleyball Federation is REAL PRO VOLLEYBALL and the premier women’s professional volleyball league in North America. Pro Volleyball Federation will begin play in January 2024 with world class players and coaches, including some of America’s greatest volleyball players and elite players from around the world. Our entire focus is on ensuring that our level and quality of play, our treatment of players, the quality of our event presentations, and our day-to-day fan experience is world class and the very best offered in North America. For more information, visit ProVolleyball.com.