VOLL v Omaha (22 NOV 15) - Highlights
VOLL v Omaha (22 NOV 15) - Post Game

Box Score | Season Stats

DENVER - The Denver Pioneers defeated the Omaha Mavericks 3-2 (26-28, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-10) Sunday to win their second straight Summit League Championship. The 27-6 Pioneers have earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament with the win.

"It was a great match," head coach Jesse Mahoney said. "Nebraska-Omaha plays really high level defense, and I knew we were going to have to work for every point. Going into the third set, we weren't actually worried. We felt like we were playing really well, and we just kind of let the first two sets slip away. So we talked about being slow and steady and getting better in a couple areas, but sticking with our game plan. In over time we thought that we could wear them down, and we did."

Ruth Okoye (Aurora, Colo.) was named the Most Valuable Player of the Summit League Championships. Just as she did in the semifinal, Okoye hit better than .500 in the championship match and tallied 11 kills, including three in the fourth set. The middle blocker also recorded three blocks in the match.

"It feels awesome," Okoye said. "I couldn't do it without my team, without my coaching staff, all my supporters, my biggest fans. And it just feels awesome."

Omaha came out firing leading the Pioneers 7-2 and prompting an early timeout by DU. Denver powered back to take their first lead of the set at 23-22, but the Mavericks capitalized on DU errors to force extra points, ultimately pulling the set out 28-26. Cassie Baird (Indianapolis, Ind.) led the Pioneers with five kills in the first set, but the Denver offense struggled. DU posted six attacking errors in the set, and three Pioneers had attempts without tallying a kill. The Mavericks also had offensive difficulties with 10 attacking errors in the first set, but it was not enough for DU. Monique Domme (Colorado Springs, Colo.) recorded 11 first-set digs, en route to a single-match career-high 24 digs.

The roles were reversed in the second set. Denver earned a 5-1 lead to begin the second set, and Omaha responded with an early timeout. Omaha fought back to a 15-15 tie and gained a 23-19 lead before the Pioneers called a timeout. In the end, Omaha powered to a 25-23 final off a kill from Michaela Schimmer. Kayla Principato (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) led the Pioneers with five kills in the second set, but Denver's offense faced challenges again. For the second straight set, three Pioneers had attempts without recording a kill. Domme and Cassidy Rooke (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) each had six digs in the set, bringing Domme's match total to just two shy of her career high.

"We were still confident," Okoye said. "Being down two, we just knew that we had to come out with urgency and intensity, and most importantly execution."

The Pioneers responded in the third set. In yet another even matchup, Denver pieced together a six-point run in the middle of the set to gain the permanent lead by the media timeout. Nola Basey (Lyons, Colo.) completed Denver's first victory with a kill for the final score of 25-20. Baird, Schmid and Principato each had four kills, while Domme dished out nine assists in the set.

In the fourth set, Denver and Omaha fought through eight ties and five lead changes before the Pioneers claimed the set 25-18. DU closed out the set on a seven-point run to force a fifth set. The Pioneers had their strongest offensive showing, hitting .318 in the fourth set. Baird and Principato each posted their second straight four-kill set, while Basey, Okoye and Becca Latham (Austin, Texas) each pitched in three kills for Denver.

Omaha had the hot start to begin the fifth set, earning a 5-0 lead before a Denver timeout. The Pioneers powered back to an 8-8 tie off a kill by Latham. The teams faced one more tie before a kill from Baird gave Denver the 10-9 lead and the momentum to win 15-10. Baird was a perfect three-for-three in the fifth set, guiding the Pioneers to the victory. Rooke followed up her 10-dig fourth set with an eight-dig fifth set for a single-match career-high 33 digs, and Piyusha Boteju (Euless, Texas) tallied eight assists for a single-match career-high total of 33.

"I'm just so proud of our players and our coaching staff and our support staff," Mahoney said. "It's always nice to get some reward or gratification for how hard they worked day-in and day-out because this group does work hard. I'm happy for them and proud that they were able to win the Summit League Championship back-to-back."

Denver will close out its regular season Saturday, Nov. 28 at Long Beach State at 2 p.m. MT. The Pioneers await their NCAA Tournament matchup in the selection show Sunday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. MT on ESPNU.

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