Omaha Supernovas Look to Stay Hot vs. Fury tonight, Face Valkyries in First Meeting of the Season on Sunday

By Annie Walker

1 31 2025

 

 

OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha Supernovas, Nebraska’s professional volleyball team and first Pro Volleyball Champions, will look to win its second consecutive matchup against the Columbus Fury in Omaha Friday night as the Fury look for their first win of the 2025 campaign. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CST at the CHI Health Center for National Girls & Women in Sports Night.  

The matchup between Omaha and Columbus is sponsored by Cheer Athletics. 

The Supernovas immediately hit the road following Friday’s contest, traveling to Orlando to battle the Valkyries for a Sunday matinee with first serve set for 2 p.m. CST at Addition Financial Arena on the campus of the University of Central Florida.   

 

Game Details

Matchup: Omaha Supernovas (3-2) vs. Columbus Fury (0-5) | Friday, Jan. 31st | 7 p.m. CST | CHI Health Center, Omaha, Neb.  

Watch: News Channel Nebraska | Broadcast Crew: Bill Doleman (PxP), Nancy Metcalf (Color) 

Listen: Supernovas Radio Network | Broadcast Crew: Grant Hansen (PxP), Jaela Zimmerman (Color) 

Match Notes 

Season Series: Second of four meetings, first of two at CHI Health Center. 

All-Time Series: Omaha leads 4-1 (Jan. 24th, 2025, at Columbus last matchup, 3-0 OMA)  

Series Notes: This is the sixth all-time meeting between Omaha and Columbus. The Supernovas lead the 

series 5-1, including a sweep against the Fury last week on Jan. 24, 2025. The only win by Columbus came in the franchise’s first-ever home match on Feb. 21, 2024, in a four-set victory. Omaha is 2-0 at home against the Fury, winning in four sets on April 4, 2024, before sweeping Columbus in the 2024 regular season finale on May 9, 2024. 

 

Game Details

Matchup: Omaha Supernovas (3-2) at Orlando Valkyries (2-3) | Sunday, Feb. 2nd | 2 p.m. CST | Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, Fla.  

Watch: PVF YouTube Channel | Broadcast Crew: Shawn Davison (PxP), Madison Fitzpatrick (Color) 

Listen: Supernovas Radio Network | Broadcast Crew: Grant Hansen (PxP), Geoff Exstrom (Color) 

Match Notes 

Season Series: First of four meetings, first of two at Addition Financial Arena.  

All-Time Series: Omaha leads 4-0 (March 16, 2024, last matchup, 3-1 OMA) 

Series Notes: This is the fifth all-time meeting between Omaha and Orlando. The Supernovas are unbeaten against the Valkyries, winning the 2024 season series 4-0 with three four-set wins and one five setter. The highlight of the series being Omaha’s victory on March 16, 2024, with a then U.S. Pro Volleyball attendance record of 12,090 packing into CHI. The Supernovas are 2-0 in Orlando, surviving in five sets the last time in Florida on March 9, 2024. 

 

Supernovas-Fury Connections  

  • Supernovas Reagan Cooper and Kaitlyn Hord take on Columbus after playing for the Fury in the inaugural PVF season. Cooper was the PVF Rookie of the Year while Hord finished fourth in hitting percentage. 
  • A batch of Puerto Ricans come together on the court Friday night, which also extends to the coaching staff. Omaha’s Natalia Valentín-Anderson and Valeria Vazquez Gomez have played with Columbus’ Paula Cerame and Wilma Rivera on the Puerto Rico National Team. Fury middle blocker Janice Leao also heralds from Puerto Rico but hasn’t competed on the national team. 
  • Plus, Columbus head coach Ángel Pérez coached against most of the Puerto Rican natives in the Puerto Rico League when he was with Changas de Naranjito (2016-2017) and Pinkin de Corozal (2019-2023). 
  • Valentín-Anderson and Rivera were teammates for the 2021-2022 Puerto Rico League season as part of Valencianas de Juncos where they finished fourth. 
  • The Supernovas setter also spent a brief time as teammates with Fury outside hitter Megan Courtney-Lush when they were with Leonas de Ponce for the 2015-2016 season when they placed third in the league standings. 
  • Columbus opposite Morgan Lewis spent four seasons (2019-2022) with Supernovas outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller at Oregon. 
  • Fury hitter Jill Gillen was originally drafted by the Supernovas at No. 8 overall in the 2023 PVF Draft but was immediately traded to Orlando for the 2024 season. 

Supernovas-Valkyries Connections 

  • Current Supernovas and Creighton alumni Kendra Wait and Allison Whitten will reunite with a pair of former Bluejay teammates in Orlando. Valkyries outside hitter Norah Sis and libero Maddy Bilinovic were teammates of Wait for the 2024 college volleyball season, where Creighton reached its second regional final in program history. Whitten spent the 2022 season with both Sis and Wait.  
  • Bilinovic has connections that stretch across the Omaha roster, including Supernovas middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord and setter Mac Podraza at Penn State. Hord spend three years with Bilinovic (2020-2022) while Podraza was teammates with her for one season in 2023.  
  • Valkyries star opposite Brittany Abercrombie and Valentín-Anderson have played together in numerous tournaments for the Puerto Rico National Team including the 2022 World Championships (15th), NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six (3rd) and FIVB Challenger Cup (3rd). They also faced off against one another on different teams from 2020-20223 in the Puerto Rico League.  
  • Omaha middle blocker Phoebe Awoleye spent two seasons (2023-2024) with Orlando opposite Lydia Grote at Minnesota where they made two NCAA Tournaments.  
  • Five Oregon alumni will be together again on Sunday including Supernovas outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller (2018-2022), Orlando middle blocker Abby Hansen (2018-2021), libero Georgia Murphy (2019-2023), setter Hannah Pukis (2022-2023) and attacker Lindsay Vander Weide (2015-2018) who all played for the Ducks.  
  • Plus, Pukis and Omaha’s Reagan Cooper were teammates for one season in 2019 at Washington State.  

Dig, Kill, Repeat 

  • Nuneviller is one of the top two-way players in professional volleyball and that’s shown in her kill and dig totals. 
  • Nuneviller’s 22-kill, 17-dig performance was her fourth PVF match with at least 20 kills and 15 digs, which is the most in league history. Teammate Reagan Cooper has achieved those marks three times making her tied for second in PVF history. 
  • In total, there have been 25 times that a player in the PVF has reached at least 20 kills and 15 digs in a match. Supernovas players have tallied eight of those 25. Aside from Nuneviller and Cooper, former opposite Stephanie Samedy achieved those numbers with a 21-kill, 18-dig match against Grand Rapids on April 26, 2024. 
  • Orlando’s Adora Anae, and Indy’s Member-Meneh Leketor are tied with Cooper for second with three such performances. Impressively, Leketor has put in those match statlines in three of the first four matches of the 2025 season. 

Hording the Net: Hord has been one of the premier blockers in the league through the first three weeks of the 2025 season. The former Husker and Nittany Lion leads the PVF in both total blocks (19) and blocks per set with a 0.95 mark. Hord’s seven blocks in the five-set win over the Vibe on opening night set a Supernovas single-match record. Also, she is only one of three players in the PVF to record seven or more blocks in a match this season. The Kentucky native also sits fifth in hitting percentage with a .365 clip through 63 attacks, 26 kills and three errors. 

Cooper’s Chart-Topper 

  • Reagan Cooper stuffed the stat sheet in her last outing against the Columbus Fury, which is her former team. The second-year pro put up 14 kills on a .393 hitting percentage with nine digs and two aces. 
  • Cooper is the first player in Omaha franchise history to achieve that stat line. The big differentiator being the clip of .393 and two service aces. 
  • There have been 26 performances in Supernovas history where a player recorded at least 14 kills and nine digs. Of those, only six featured a hitting percentage of .300 or better, with four also including a single ace. However, just two of those surpassed Cooper’s .393 hitting percentage—but neither included two aces. This unique combination cements Cooper’s performance as one of the most special in franchise history.

The Dig Patrol  

  • The Supernovas have been one of the better defensive teams in the PVF highlighted by being third in digs per set (17.20) and fourth in total digs (344).  
  • That effort is spearheaded by three of the best ball control defenders in the league with libero Camila Gómez, Valentín-Anderson and Nuneviller as all three sit inside the top ten in both total digs and digs per set.  
  • Valentín-Anderson leads the trio with a team-leading 4.05 digs per set with 81 total digs. Both those numbers are third in the PVF and the highest among all league setters. She’s recorded at least 11 digs in each of the first five matches this season including a season-high 21 against the San Diego Mojo on Jan. 19th. 
  • Gómez sits fourth in the league in total digs (79) and fifth in digs per set (3.95). Her 31 digs against the Atlanta Vibe in the season opener broke a single-match franchise record. 
  • Nuneviller, who is a former libero, has the fifth-most digs in the league with 74 while owning a 3.70 digs per set mark. Each number is tops among all outside hitters in the PVF. 

A”Nune”ther Level 

Nuneviller enters the weekend third in points (92), kills (84) and kills per set (4.20). The Chandler, Arizona native is one of only two players in the league this season to record 20+ kills and 15+ digs in a match. That was on opening night against Atlanta when she poured in 22 kills and 17 digs while hitting .340. The Oregon product has been averaging 16.8 kills and 14.8 digs per match through five contests. 

Every match this season can be heard on the Supernovas Radio Network, led by its flagship station KCRO 660 AM as part of Walnut Media. The SRN can be heard in five states with the support of its affiliates in KXCB Bluffs Country 106.5 FMBoomer Radio 106.7 FMESPN Tri CitiesKNCY in Nebraska City, KGMT in Fairbury and KSID-AM in Sidney. 

New for 2025 is a totally customizable, half-season ticket package. Choose any seven of the team’s 14 home matches and even select different seats for each game, with prices starting as low as $14 per match. Customize your Supernovas experience today by visiting this link.     

Check out the Supernovas full 2025 schedule and 2025 roster.    

To receive Supernovas updates, news and ticket information, download the official Supernovas App by clicking this link 

ABOUT OMAHA SUPERNOVAS       

The Omaha Supernovas are the premier home of professional volleyball, boasting the No. 1 pro volleyball average attendance in the world. The Supernovas 2025 season began on January 10 when they hosted 13,486, becoming the most attended U.S. pro volleyball match in history. The team is owned by global music sensation Jason Derulo and entrepreneur Danny White, Co-Founder of City+Ventures, an investment and business acceleration organization headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.  

ABOUT PRO VOLLEYBALL FEDERATION        

Pro Volleyball Federation is the leading professional volleyball league in the United States. PVF sets the standard for the sport, offering the largest number of franchises, unmatched attendance, extensive broadcast coverage and substantial championship prize money. It combines top-tier talent, including NCAA stars and international athletes, with cutting-edge production and technology to provide fans with an unmatched viewing experience. As a vital link between collegiate volleyball and the professional stage, PVF is dedicated to shaping the future of the sport and increasing visibility for its athletes. For more information, visit ProVolleyball.com. 

 

COURTESY OMAHA SUPERNOVAS COMMUNICATIONS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *