Omaha Supernovas

The Omaha Supernovas are a professional indoor volleyball team based in Omaha, Nebraska. The team competes in the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF). The Supernovas began play in the league's inaugural 2024 season. The team plays their home games at CHI Health Center Omaha.

Omaha Supernovas

Sport	Volleyball
Founded	2023
First season	2024
League	Pro Volleyball Federation
Based in	Omaha, Nebraska
Arena	CHI Health Center Omaha
Colors	Pink, light blue, purple, navy blue
Owner	Nebraska Pro Volleyball (Chris Erickson, Danny White & Jason Derulo)
President	Diane Mendenhall
Head coach	Laura 'Bird' Kuhn
Championships	1 (2024)
Playoff berths	1 (2024)
Current season

History

On April 12, 2023, Omaha was announced as one of the cities to get a Pro Volleyball Federation franchise for the league's inaugural season, led by an ownership group headed by Omaha businessman Danny White and R&B/pop singer Jason Derulo. The Supernovas name, logo and colors were announced on July 20.

The first match of the Supernovas’ season and the inaugural Pro Volleyball Federation game was played on January 24, 2024, at home. In a 5-set match, the Supernovas lost to the Atlanta Vibe by a score of 26–24, 25–23, 25–17, 25–19, 15–13. The attendance mark of 11,624 set a record for both a women's professional volleyball match in the United States, and in the Pro Volleyball Federation.

The previous attendance record for a women's professional volleyball match in the United States was 10,213 fans, at an Olympic qualifier on January 9, 2016. The contest, held at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, was a 3–0 U.S. Women's National Team victory over the Dominican Republic. It concluded the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament and earned the United States a berth in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

2024 Season

The Omaha Supernovas have announced head coach Shelton Collier will serve as an Advisor to the Organization and named assistant coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn as the interim Head Coach. Additionally, former Creighton volleyball standout, Jazz Schmidt joins the Supernovas’ coaching staff as an assistant coach and operations assistant.

During its championship run in the inaugural PVF season, the Supernovas became the league's shining star, hosting 134,969 fans across the 15 matches held at the CHI Health Center. That includes a whopping 9,656 average mark for the 12 Supernovas’ home matches, plus the 19,094 spectators who attended the PVF Semifinals and Championship.  

The Supernovas erased any doubt that professional volleyball could happen in the United States with their 9,656 match average the No. 1 mark amongst professional volleyball teams in the world.  

Omaha broke many of its own attendance records across its historic season, starting with 11,624 fans attending the first-ever PVF match on Jan. 24 between Omaha and the Atlanta Vibe. That mark was broken a few weeks later on Sunday, Feb. 18 as 11,918 fans showed up to watch the Supernovas take on the Orlando Valkyries. The newest and most current attendance record was set on Saturday, March 16 with 12,090 spectators packing into the CHI Health Center to see the Supernovas beat the Valkyries in four sets.  

In total, Omaha hosted crowds of 10,000 people or more in seven of the 15 matches hosted at CHI this past season, including five-digit crowds in six of the 12 regular season contests.

The Supernovas took advantage of the partisan crowd, going 9-3 at home during the regular season before winning two-straight at CHI to become the inaugural champions.  

Home Attendance Records

DATE	OPPONENT	FANS
Wednesday, Jan. 24	Atlanta	11,624
Saturday, Feb. 3	San Diego	11,403
Wednesday, Feb. 7	Vegas	9,076
Sunday, Feb. 18	Orlando	11,918
Thursday, March 14	Atlanta	8,114
Saturday, March 16	Orlando	12,090
Thursday, March 28	Grand Rapids	7,505
Saturday, March 30	Vegas	10,315
Thursday, April 4	Columbus	7,411
Saturday, April 20	San Diego	11,303
Friday, April 26	Grand Rapids	7,107
Thursday, May 9	Columbus	8,009
TOTAL	12 Matches	115,875
	Average	9,656
PVF Semifinals	San Diego	8,416
PVF Championship	Grand Rapids	10,678
TOTAL	15 Matches	134,969

Pro Volleyball Federation Announced Its First Championship

Pro Volleyball Federation announced that its first championship will take place in Omaha, Nebraska. The semifinals on May 15, 2024, and title match on May 18 will take place at the CHI Health Center and be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network. The players from the winning team will be awarded a $1,000,000 bonus.

SUPERNOVAS SWEEP RISE TO BECOME FIRST-EVER PRO VOLLEYBALL FEDERATION CHAMPIONS

From preseason favorites to first-ever champions, the Omaha Supernovas (18-8) swept the Grand Rapids Rise (13-13) 25-13, 26-24, 25-22 Saturday in front of 10,678 at the CHI Health Center to become the inaugural PVF Champions.

Saturday marked the third sweep in the month of May for the Supernovas. Omaha had three sweeps combined in the previous three months.

During the trophy presentation, Supernovas setter Sydney Hilley was awarded the Postseason MVP and a $10,000 bonus as the Wisconsin graduate came off the bench to guide the Omaha offense to two victories. Hilley dished out 40 assists and six digs in the three sets as the Supernovas hit .342 for their second-highest hitting percentage of the season. That was after handing out 46 assists and nine digs in the reverse sweep over San Diego in the semifinals.

Olympian Bethania de la Cruz paced the Omaha attackers with 13 kills on a .423 clip to go with eight digs and her league-leading 35th ace of the season. Stephanie Samedy matched her teammate with 13 kills on a .346 hitting percentage including one ace and one block. Samedy finished the postseason with 43 total kills on a .391 clip in two matches with 13 digs, three blocks and two aces. Team captain Brooke Nuneviller was third Supernovas player to reach double-digit kills with 12 along with 15 digs.

Middle blockers Hristina Vuchkova and Tori Dixon combined for 12 kills on a .550 clip and five blocks. Vuchkova hit .750 with seven kills and one error on eight swings. She tallied a match-high three blocks. Dixon had no hitting errors with five kills on 12 swings. She earned a pair of blocks. Libero Kendall White finished her season with nine digs and two assists.

Omaha recorded two aces along with seven blocks.

Grand Rapids was led by star attackers Claire Chaussee and Emiliya Dimitrova. Chaussee totaled 12 kills and seven digs while Dimitrova also recorded 12 kills and 11 digs in her final professional volleyball match.

Set 1: The Supernovas started the set with a 4-0 run behind the serve of de la Cruz. Nuneviller’s second kill of the match doubled the Omaha lead at 8-4. The Supernovas put three consecutive points on the board to force a Rise timeout at 13-6. Dimitrova sided out for the Rise. De la Cruz recorded her first ace serve of the match for a 16-8 Omaha lead. Nuneviller’s fifth kill got Omaha to the 20-point mark first. Samedy served up an ace for a 23-10 lead and forced a Grand Rapids timeout. The Rise took the two points out of the timeout, but a Nuneviller kill gave Omaha a set point. De la Cruz ended the set with a kill at 25-13. The Supernovas recorded 17 kills on the set with only one error for a .615 hitting percentage and held the Rise to nine kills and a .115 hitting percentage.

Set 2: Vuchkova posted her second block of the match to put Omaha up 6-5. Dimitrova answered with her third kill of the set. Grand Rapids took the two-point lead at 9-7 after a Chaussee kill. A Dixon kill tied the set at 11-11, but Dimitrova put the Rise ahead 12-11. Nuneviller ended a marathon rally with her eighth kill of the match to even the score at 13s. The Rise regained the two-point lead after kills by Chaussee and Kayla Caffey. Nuneviller got to double-digit kills at 21-21. The Rise took the following two points for a 23-21 advantage. Samedy gave the ball back to Omaha and de la Cruz followed-up with a kill of her own. Another de la Cruz kill brought the Supernovas to set point. Omaha was awarded the 25th point and the set win, but a smart challenge by Cathy George and the Rise kept the set going and tied the score at 24. A de la Cruz kill and a Dixon block gave Omaha the 26-24 set win. Four Supernovas had four or more kills on the set. Chaussee led the way for the Rise with six.

Set 3: The Supernovas took the first three points of the set. Erika Pritchard got the Rise on the board with her fourth kill. A Samedy kill put Omaha up three at 9-6. De la Cruz followed up with a kill to extend the Supernovas’ lead. A block by Hilley put Omaha up 11-7. Samedy’s 12th kill put Omaha up 15-10, but Dimitrova got the ball back for the Rise, and they took the next two points to cut the Omaha lead to 15-13. Vuchkova found her offensive stride and gave Omaha a three-point lead at 17-14. The Rise tied it up at 19s, but a Samedy kill gave Omaha the lead back. Back-to-back Omaha points put them up 22-20 and forced a Grand Rapids timeout. Vuchkova’s seventh kill gave Omaha championship point. The Rise fought off one match point, but a Grand Rapids service error ended the set and gave Omaha the 25-22 set win and the inaugural Pro Volleyball Federation Championship. De la Cruz and Samedy led the Supernovas with five kills apiece. Samedy also added a block in the final set of the season.

2024 Roster

Current as of April 21, 2024.

Number	Player	Position	Height
1	Natalia Valentín-Anderson	Setter	5'10"
2	Sydney Hilley	Setter	6'0"
3	Kendall White	Libero	5'7"
5	Brooke Nuneviller	Outside hitter	5'10"
6	Tori Dixon	Middle blocker	6'4"
7	Gina Mancuso-Prososki	Outside hitter	6'1"
10	Jess Schaben-Lansman	Outside hitter	6'2"
11	Hristina Vuchkova	Middle blocker	6'2"
12	Kyla Swanson	Middle blocker	6'4"
13	Paige Briggs	Outside hitter	5'10"
14	Nia Kai Reed	Opposite hitter	6'2"
15	Allison Mayfield	Outside hitter	6'1"
18	Bethania de la Cruz	Outside hitter	6'2"
23	Gabby Thompson	Libero	5'7"
25	Maggie Cartwright	Opposite hitter	5'11"
81	Danielle Hart	Middle blocker	6'3"

Practice squad

Number	Player	Position	Height
24	Sophie Davis	Middle blocker	6'2"

External links

• Omaha Supernovas official website