LOVB Omaha returns home, fails to snap losing streak
After a strong start, Omaha falls to Salt Lake in its first home match in 40 days
OMAHA — Just when LOVB Omaha eliminated one obstacle, another continued to cause issues.
Omaha played at home for the first time after six weeks of road matches, but injuries and health remain an issue.
Salt Lake earned a 16-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-19 victory over a hobbled Omaha team Thursday night in front of a half-filled Liberty First Credit Union Arena. Omaha (4-6) has lost six in a row, including two at the LOVB Classic, and eight of the last nine matches in all competitions.
Omaha coach Susie Fritz said the players endured while dealing with injuries and other nicks and bruises. She’s proud of her players for continuing to fight even as the losses piled up.
“We're fighting through some stuff, and we've been fighting through it for weeks, and we're having a hard time getting healthy bodies out there that can stay there for very long,” Fritz said. “It creates a lot of ebbs and flows, both in terms of our performance and our lineup.”
Middle blocker Lauren Stivrins didn’t dress against Salt Lake, but fellow middle Candelaria Herrera made her first match back after missing almost a month with a knee injury. She played the first three sets before Chiamaka Nwokolo, who was signed on Tuesday, played the fourth set.
Opposite Kimberly Drewniok left the match during the second set and did not return. Audriana Fitzmorris finished the set and played the third before Vicky Savard, who typically plays on the left pin, stepped in on the right side for the fourth set.
Omaha had its opportunities against Salt Lake. They won the first set with a hitting percentage of .448 and reached 17 points first in each of the four sets. However, Salt Lake made a comeback in the last three sets. They went on a 5-0 run in the second set, won seven of the final nine points in the third set and scored eight consecutive points to set up match point.
Salt Lake relied upon 14 blocks and big attacking nights from its outside hitters to fight back. Roni Jones-Perry finished with 18 kills at a .342 clip, while Claire Hoffman added 14 kills with a .313 hitting percentage. Jordyn Poulter racked up 44 assists as Salt Lake hit .331 for the match.
Poulter said the volleyball wasn’t always clean, but they found a way to score points even if it wasn’t how they planned. She said they’ve talked a lot during the past few weeks about being present and their identity.
“We've played enough volleyball to know how it's supposed to look and feel,” she said after Salt Lake won its third match out of their last four. “I applaud us for when it's not looking and feeling that way, being able to just persistently stick with it.”
One bright spot for Omaha recently has been the emergence of Madi Kubik-Banks. The 6-foot-3 outside hitter has started the last three matches and provided an offensive spark. She recorded 31 kills in two matches last weekend and put up 19 kills against Salt Lake.
Fritz challenged the former Nebraska All-American a month ago to take more offensive risks. Kubik-Banks said that means accepting more discomfort and putting herself out there more.
“I want to do that for this team, and I'm willing to do that, so we just keep trying,” she said. “I have to shift into a more aggressive mindset, which has maybe just been a different role than I've played on a lot of other teams.”
Even though Kubik-Banks led Omaha in kills, she needed 53 attacks to reach her kill mark. Jordan Larson added 11 kills, two aces and two blocks, while Drewniok notched seven kills in her two sets of action. Emily Thater finished with six kills and three blocks.
Serving has recently been a strong point for Omaha. After finishing with six aces against Atlanta last weekend, they recorded a season-high seven aces by five players against Salt Lake.
Omaha has also utilized rookie libero Lexi Rodriguez more since switching to a 5-1. Rodriguez made her home debut on Thursday night as a serving specialist and she received the loudest cheers of the night every time she checked in.
Rodriguez didn’t account for one of Omaha’s aces but attempted 15 serves, the second-most on the team. Fritz said getting the former Husker legend on the court also upgrades them defensively.
“I think Lexi's given us a nice little pick me up in a serving sub role,” Fritz said. “She's capable of doing more, but we can only play one (libero) at a time.”
After playing on the road since Jan. 25, Omaha will finally get a break from the schedule. Over four weeks, half the remaining six regular-season matches will be at home.
Kubik-Banks said they were almost in shock before the match that this was just their second weekend of home matches this season.
“We've been road warriors for about seven weeks, just turning around Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, three days in the gym,” she said. “It's hard to get everyone healthy and in a good rhythm to prepare for the following weekend, but we'll just keep fighting to do that.”