Story by Omaha Supernovas Communication
OMAHA, Neb. – The first-place Omaha Supernovas, Nebraska’s professional volleyball team and first pro volleyball champions, limited the Grand Rapids Rise offense to a .089 hitting percentage in a dominant 25-16, 25-23, 26-24 sweep Thursday night on Kiewit Court at the CHI Health Center in front of 8,577 fans.
The win marked Omaha’s league-leading ninth sweep of the season, as the Supernovas (17-6) maintained their grip on the top spot in the Pro Volleyball Federation standings. The Rise (10-14), who entered Thursday as the league’s top blocking team, were out-blocked 12-8 and held below a .100 hitting percentage for just the second time in 2025.
Supernovas outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller led the charge with a match-high 14 points compiled by 10 kills, two blocks, two aces and six digs. Reagan Cooper tied her teammate with 10 kills while adding eight digs and one block. Grand Rapids attacked opposite Kelsie Payne for most of the night, but the six-year pro held strong with a match-high 14 digs, plus eight kills and two blocks.
Rookie middle blocker Phoebe Awoleye made her first career start and hit .308 on the night with five kills and two blocks. Kaitlyn Hord put down a trio of kills to go with one block. Setter Natalia Valentín-Anderson dished out 30 assists and totaled 10 digs with two blocks and one kill. Libero Camila Gómez chipped in five kills and four assists.
No player from Grand Rapids reached double-digit points, but it was Carli Snyder who tallied a team-high eight points on six kills, one block and one ace. Eleanor Holthaus paced the Rise offense with seven kills while Erika Pritchard and former Supernova Paige Briggs-Romine added six kills apiece.
The Supernovas return home on Saturday, April 19 for a colossal No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown against the Atlanta Vibe, who enter the match on a league record 10-match winning streak. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CDT with the match being steamed nationally on the Roku Channel. It can also be heard on the Supernovas Radio Network.
Key Notes
- With Thursday’s bounce-back victory, the Supernovas have only had a multi-match losing streak once in franchise history. That occurred earlier this season on January 17 and 19 with back-to-back losses to Vegas and San Diego.
- With 10 digs, Valentín-Anderson surpassed 400 for her Supernovas career. Her total now stands at 404 in not even two complete seasons.
- Payne tied her season high with 14 digs and has compiled double-digit digs in three of her past five matches.
- The Supernovas are one sweep shy of tying the PVF record for most in a season. That record is held by the 2024 Atlanta Vibe who had 10 sweeps in 24 matches.
Set 1: Payne got the Supernovas on the board early with a kill, while Grand Rapids’ Alyssa Jensen answered with a block to even the score. Nuneviller and Briggs-Romine traded kills before an exchange of errors set up a 4-0 run for Omaha. Cooper sparked the series with a block and a kill, joined by a Payne kill and a Rise miscue to give the Supernovas an 8-3 lead. Grand Rapids found a brief response behind Holthaus, but two more Rise errors forced a timeout at 11-5. Payne landed another swing before Holthaus and Briggs-Romine chipped in kills to keep Grand Rapids in the mix. Cooper added two more kills and Awoleye converted on a swing in the middle to send the match into the media timeout with a 16-8 Omaha advantage. Out of the break, Nuneviller, Awoleye and Valentín-Anderson strung together three straight points to extend the lead to 19-8. Ali Bastianelli snapped the run with a kill, and Grand Rapids followed with Pritchard and Snyder’s first points of the night. Then, Omaha capitalized on two Rise errors and another Payne termination to reach 23-11. Grand Rapids put together a late four-point push behind kills from Jensen and Pritchard, a block from August Raskie, and an Omaha net violation, but a service error sealed the set in Omaha’s favor, 25-16.
The Supernovas hit .303 with one block as Cooper paced the group with four kills on a .333 clip. Grand Rapids limped to a .053 clip with two blocks. Pritchard put down three kills and three swings to lead the offense.
Set 2: Snyder opened the second set with a kill for the Rise, but Payne responded right away for Omaha. Pritchard followed with a kill and a Supernovas’ service error gave Grand Rapids the early edge. After an exchange of errors, Snyder landed another swing for the Rise. Payne answered with back-to-back kills, and Valentín-Anderson added a block to pull Omaha within one at 6-5. Grand Rapids built some cushion with kills from Bastianelli and Prichard, and Briggs-Romine dropped in the first ace of the night. Cooper and Prichard traded kills before the Supernovas earned consecutive points off a Hord block and a Rise net violation to lead the set 10-9. Snyder fired back with an ace, but Nuneviller and Awoleye responded with kills. Jensen tied it up again with a block, but Omaha created separation by stringing together a four-point run with kills from Nuneviller, Cooper, Awoleye, and capped by a Nuneviller for a 16-12 lead. Holthaus rallied Grand Rapids with two kills and a Bastianelli block, but Cooper and Nuneviller delivered two kills for Omaha, and a Nuneviller block forced a Grand Rapids timeout at 20-17. Snyder landed a kill out of the break, but Nuneviller matched it with one of her own. Jensen’s block tightened the gap at 21-20, but a Supernovas net violation and a Holthaus kill kept the set close. Awoleye came through with a big swing, and Nuneviller followed with her second ace of the set to make it 24-21. Holthaus and a Supernovas’ error made things tense at match point, but Cooper slammed the door shut with a kill to win the set 25-23 and put Omaha up 2-0.
The Supernovas hit .174 in the set with four blocks and its only two aces of the night. Nuneviller and Cooper each had four kills while Payne and Awoleye added three apiece. The Rise hit .171 with a trio of blocks and two aces. Holthaus pounded four kills on five swings.
Set 3: Snyder added the first point of the set with a kill before Omaha answered with a 4-0 run fueled by a pair of blocks and a kill from Nuneviller and Cooper. Snyder responded with a block, but Nuneviller kept the momentum with another swing before Awoleye stuffed another attack. A service error helped the Rise side out, but Omaha stayed steady behind kills from Cooper and Hord, plus a Valentín-Anderson block to make it 9-4. Holthaus tallied one for Grand Rapids, but Payne answered with a kill. After another Omaha service error, Hord and Bastianelli traded points at the net. Payne followed up with a block before Marin Grote got on the board for the Rise. Nuneviller and Briggs-Romine exchanged kills, but Nuneviller struck again just before the media timeout with Omaha up 16-10. Out of the break, the Supernovas emptied the bench with Mac Podraza, Ally Batenhorst, Allison Whitten, Toyosi Onabanjo, Lindsay Krause, Emily Londot, and Kayla Caffey all checking in. Bastianelli scored for the Rise, but a service error gave Omaha a sideout. Briggs-Romine landed a kill before Londot recorded her first point of the match. Grand Rapids then rallied with a four-point run, powered by a kill and block from Devyn Robinson and a pair of Omaha miscues. Caffey stopped the surge with a kill to make it 20-16. Robinson and Briggs-Romine responded for Grand Rapids, but Omaha pulled away behind blocks from Podraza and Onabanjo, and a Rise service error to go up 23-18. The Rise wouldn’t go down as Grote added a kill and a block. Symone Abbott dropped in an ace, and Briggs-Romine completed the comeback with a kill to tie the set at 23. After a pair of traded errors, Podraza and Londot slammed down a pair of kills to cap the sweep with a 26-24 victory.
Omaha had a .136 hitting percentage in the final frame, including seven blocks. Nuneviller tallied four kills to lead the team. Grand Rapids hit .059 with three blocks and one ace. Briggs-Romine collected four kills in the set.