The No. 2 Omaha Supernovas will play the No. 3 San Diego Mojo in the second match on Wednesday, May 15 during the semifinals of the PVF Championship.
In the regular season, Omaha and San Diego split their four meetings, each winning out at home. On Wednesday, the Supernovas will play for a spot in the PFV Championship finals on their own court, in Nebraska.
Here are three reasons the Supernovas could win the PVF Championship.
Intangibles Favor Omaha
The Supernovas have loads of talent: hitters Bethania De La Cruz, Brooke Nuneviller, and veteran middle blocker Hristina Vuchkova, to name a few key players. But, this is a roster filled with fundamental players, well-coached, and disciplined.
Omaha led the league in service aces, and was first in digs. They are one of only two teams with a positive differential between kill percentage and kill percentage allowed. They make the good pass, square up for the blocks properly, and also hustle 100 percent of the time. The small things are big things in the ultra-team sport of volleyball.
The Magic of Paige Briggs
Teammates Bethania De La Cruz and Brooke Nuneviller get a lot of attention for their stellar play as outside hitters, as they should. But, Paige Briggs had a superb rookie season for Omaha. As an undersized OH, Briggs may get overlooked, but she shouldn’t: she’s a player with no real weakness to her game. And the 2023 graduate of Western Kentucky will only get better. Briggs swings hard and with accuracy. She is sure-handed returning serves, and a good passer and server. She has an intuition on the court that can’t be taught. She’s also extremely competitive, maybe even the most competitive player on a highly competitive team.
Briggs makes plays and wins. That’s just what she does. The best trade by any team on PVF Draft day was when the Supernovas stole Briggs from Orlando. We like Reagan Cooper of the Fury, and applaud her choice to win the The Rising Star Award. But that honor could very well have gone to Briggs.
There’s No Place Like Home
The Supernovas averaged almost twice as many fans for their home matches as any other team in the PVF. They had a 9-3 match record at CHI Health Center. Their set record at home was 32-17. They have won their last seven matches on their home floor.
The CHI Health Center will be packed with fans, most of whom are very familiar with volleyball. Nebraska is of course, a volleyball haven. That can’t be anything but an advantage for the Novas.
