The Omaha Supernovas, the world’s leading professional volleyball franchise, received double-digit point performances from five players, including 18 apiece from outside hitters Sarah Parsons and Reagan Cooper, but fell to the San Diego Mojo (5-7), 25-23, 22-25, 25-19, 18-25, 15-12, in a five-set marathon Sunday night at Viejas Arena before a crowd of 1,788.
Dealing with the absence of star outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller, Parsons stepped up for her third double-double of the season with 15 kills and a team-high 18 digs. The former AVCA Player of the Year also added two blocks and an ace. Cooper tallied her first double-double since Jan. 30 against San Diego, posting a team-high 16 kills and 14 digs to go along with one block and one ace.
Opposite Emily Londot added a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs, plus one block. Merritt Beason provided a spark off the bench, recording eight kills on a .375 hitting percentage with two blocks and four digs.
Middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo finished with eight kills, while Kiara Reinhardt added six kills, a team-high three blocks and her team-leading 13th ace of the season. Setter Sydney Hilley totaled 42 assists and 16 digs, while libero Elena Oglivierecorded 14 digs and nine assists in her Supernovas debut.
As a team, Omaha (7-6) hit .205 with 64 kills, 10 blocks, four aces, 91 digs and 63 assists.
Opposite Morgan Lewis led San Diego with a match-high 20 points on 17 kills and three blocks. Grace Loberg totaled 18 points on 16 kills and two blocks, plus 19 digs. McKenna Vicini added 10 kills on a .429 hitting percentage with three blocks to anchor the middle. The Mojo outhit the Supernovas .241 to .205 and finished with 70 kills, 12 blocks, 100 digs and 67 assists.
The Supernovas return to Omaha to face the Atlanta Vibe on Thursday, Feb. 26, for Galaxy Night on Kiewit Court at the CHI Health Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CST on the Roku Sports Channel and the Supernovas Radio Network.
Key Notes
- Sunday marks just the fourth time in franchise history that an opponent didn’t ace the Supernovas and the first since April 25, 2025, vs. Vegas.
- Elena Oglivie’s nine assists are a new professional career high.
- Three of the four double figure point performances from Merritt Beason this season has come against San Diego.
- Sunday’s defeat snaps the Supernovas seven-match road winning streak and marks the first road loss for the Supernovas since Omaha’s last trip to Viejas Arena on April 12, 2025.
- Omaha’s current three-game slide ties the franchise record set earlier this season, but the team responded with a five-match winning streak after that.
- The Supernovas move to 9-10 all-time in five-set matches, including a 2-4 mark this season.
- Omaha also moves to 1-4 at Viejas Arena, its worst record among all MLV opponent venues.
Set 1: Parsons put the Supernovas on the board first with a two-handed shove that scrambled the San Diego defense. Reinhardt and Cooper traded kills with the Mojo, but back-to-back San Diego hitting errors gave Omaha an early 5-3 lead. After Monserez won a joust against Onabanjo, Onabanjo answered with a slide kill, and a Reinhardt block extended the lead to 7-4. Parsons hammered home a point to give the Supernovas an 8-5 advantage at the first media timeout. San Diego mounted a 4-1 run out of the timeout, including a Vicini block to tie it at 9-all. Cooper and Parsons responded with back-to-back kills. Onabanjo scored again from the slide, and Parsons rejected a Mojo attack for a 14-11 Omaha lead. Grote used the slide for a pair of kills, and terminations from Loberg and Lewis capped a 4-0 run to tie the set at 14. Lewis gave San Diego a 15-14 edge, but Londot tooled the block to even the score. Lewis answered with a tool off the Supernovas block to give the Mojo a 16-15 lead at the second media timeout. Parsons sided out on the next point before the teams exchanged errors. Tied at 17, Reinhardt converted off a good pass with a kill from the middle. Parsons found a seam for an ace, and Cooper terminated down the line to force a San Diego timeout at 20-17. Cooper and Londot extended the lead to five with consecutive kills to build a 22-17 Omaha advantage. Vicini squeezed a middle attack through the block to halt the momentum, and Lewis found the floor from the right side to force a Supernovas timeout at 22-19. Reinhardt put down an overdig on the next point, but a Londot error and a Lewis kill cut the lead to one, prompting another Supernovas timeout at 23-22. Cooper timed a tip perfectly to give Omaha set point at 24-22. Lewis ended a long rally with a kill but followed with a service error to give Omaha the 25-23 set win.
The Supernovas hit .357 as a team with two blocks and one ace. Cooper led the attack with six kills, while Reinhardt and Parsons added four each. San Diego responded with a .333 hitting percentage and two blocks, as Lewis posted eight kills on a .583 clip.
Set 2: Londot opened the scoring with a kill, but San Diego took a 2-1 lead after an Omaha service error and a Lewis block. Londot tied the set with another kill, but Vicini sparked a 4-0 run with a kill, a Lewis block and a Grote termination for a 6-2 advantage. Londot stopped the run, and Reinhardt delivered an ace to cut the deficit to two. A Parsons back-row attack sailed wide, and a Loberg kill pushed the lead to 9-5. Cooper sided out with a kill. The Mojo committed a four-hit violation, and Parsons added a block on a slide to bring Omaha within one. The Supernovas could not sustain the momentum, surrendering a 5-0 run fueled by two errors and three Mojo kills. Trailing 14-8, Omaha turned to the bench for Beason and Mosher. Beason immediately sparked the team with a kill and block on consecutive points. A Lewis hitting error set up another Beason kill. Parsons handled an out-of-system ball to trim the deficit to 14-13. San Diego answered with a block and kill to lead 16-13 at the second media timeout. Lewis extended the run with a kill but followed with a hitting error. Omaha capitalized on another San Diego error and a Parsons kill, but back-to-back Supernovas errors made it 19-15. Shannon Scully finished a running attack before the teams traded errors. Cooper found high hands for a kill and added a block on the next point. Leao dropped in an ace to cut the margin, but Grote halted the 3-0 run to make it 22-19. San Diego committed two errors to bring Omaha within one, but after a timeout, the Mojo earned set point on kills from Scully and Loberg. Onabanjo scored from the slide, but Loberg closed the set with a kill for a 25-22 win.
Omaha hit .082 with three blocks and two aces. Londot led with three kills, while Beason, Parsons and Cooper had two each. San Diego hit .120 with three blocks, as Loberg led with four kills.
Set 3: Cooper opened with a kill, and Loberg answered. Londot stuffed a Mojo attack and added a kill for a 3-1 lead. After a stretch of service and hitting errors, Onabanjo converted from the slide. Cooper followed an error with a kill on the next rally. Loberg sided out, but Cooper delivered again for an 8-6 lead at the media timeout. Out of the break, Londot found high hands and Reinhardt scored from the middle for a 10-6 advantage, forcing a San Diego timeout. Loberg sided out, and Vicini finished an overpass. A San Diego error made it 11-8, but a Vicini kill and Scully block cut the lead to one. Onabanjo scored again from the slide, but back-to-back Grote points tied it at 12. A service error and Onabanjo kill gave Omaha a 14-12 lead. Cooper traded kills with Monserez, and Londot added a back-row attack for a 16-14 edge. Cooper extended the lead with a high-line kill. After a net violation, Cooper struck down the line again, and Parsons found the back corner. A Mojo attack missed, and a Cooper ace forced a timeout at 21-15. Parsons capped the 5-0 run with a roll shot. A Cooper service error ended the streak, but a double contact and a Tabron kill trimmed it to 22-18. Londot answered with a sharp-angle kill, and Onabanjo set up set point. Vicini scored once more, but Parsons tooled the block for the 25-19 win.
Omaha hit .366 with one block and one ace. Cooper had six kills. San Diego hit .200 with two blocks, as Loberg and Vicini led with three kills each.
Set 4: After consecutive hitting errors, Reinhardt and Parsons recorded back-to-back kills for a 3-1 lead. Parsons added another point, and an Onabanjo middle kill made it 6-3. San Diego responded with a 5-0 run, fueled by three Loberg points and two Tabron kills, to take an 8-6 lead at the media timeout. Two more Omaha errors extended the run to 7-0 before Parsons ended the drought. Lewis and Loberg added kills to push the margin to five. Cooper scored, and Beason added a kill after a substitution. Tabron clipped the back line, and Lewis tooled the block for a 16-10 lead at the second media timeout. Beason added another back-row kill, but Grote sided out from the middle. After several errors by both teams, Brakocevic tooled the block to make it 19-13. Beason added two more kills, but a 4-1 run set up Lewis’ set-ending kill for a 25-18 win to force a fifth set.
Omaha hit .136. Beason led with four kills on five swings. San Diego hit .357, as Tabron recorded six kills on a .357 clip.
Set 5: Reinhardt opened with a block, but Loberg sided out. Tabron blocked Beason, and Vicini gave San Diego a 3-1 lead. TeBrake added a block, but Vicini answered again. Parsons tied it at 4-all with back-to-back kills. Grote and Beason traded points before Parsons gave Omaha a 6-5 lead. Loberg tied it again, and a TeBrake attack sailed long for an 8-7 San Diego lead at the media timeout. Onabanjo scored from the slide, but a Brakocevic kill and TeBrake error forced a Supernovas timeout at 10-8. Lewis delivered back-to-back blocks to extend the lead to 12-8. Loberg added a kill and a block to reach match point. Cooper tooled the block, and Beason scored twice to force a San Diego timeout. Reinhardt recorded another block out of the timeout, but Loberg ended the match with a kill for a 15-12 win.
Omaha hit .042 with four blocks. Parsons led with three kills on five swings. San Diego hit .200 with four blocks, as Loberg had four kills.
