Abercrombie’s 22-Kill Night Lifts Valkyries Past Supernovas
Week Two of Major League Volleyball was highlighted by a five-set showdown between the Orlando Valkyries and Omaha Supernovas, with Orlando emerging victorious on the road Sunday night. After becoming the Valkyries’ all-time franchise leader in kills during opening week, Brittany Abercrombie was poised to keep riding that wave–and she did exactly that versus the Supernovas.
Abercrombie recorded two team highs, finishing with 22 kills and 19 digs in Orlando’s 3-2 win. Her 22 kills came on 50 attempts with just two errors, good for a .400 hitting percentage. She also added one block and one ace to finish with a team-high 24 points.
The Valkyries jumped out to a two-set lead before running into trouble in the third and fourth sets, but ultimately regrouped in the fifth to close out the win (25-18, 25-20, 16-25, 24-26, 15-9).
Through two weeks, Abercrombie ranks fourth in the league in total kills with 56 across 14 sets and sits third in service aces.
Setter Chompoo Guedpard commanded the offense with a season-high 59 assists while adding 12 digs. She currently ranks fourth in the league in assists with 137 total.
For Omaha, league assists leader Sydney Hilley tallied 53 assists and nine digs. Brooke Nuneviller posted an impressive 27 kills while adding 14 digs, second on the team behind libero Morgan Hentz’s 15.
View this post on Instagram
San Diego Mojo vs. Dallas Pulse
AU players: Natalia Valentin-Anderson (Dallas); Kayla Caffey, Marlie Monserez (San Diego)
Dallas earned a four-set win Thursday night, defeating San Diego 3-1 (15-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-18).
Natalia Valentin-Anderson led the Pulse with a team-high 43 assists and added a team-best 13 digs, along with one kill.
For the Mojo, Kayla Caffey recorded eight kills while hitting .400 with just two errors on 15 attempts. Marlie Monserez contributed across the stat sheet with 32 assists, 10 digs, three kills, and one block.
Atlanta Vibe vs. Omaha Supernovas
AU players: Brooke Nuneviller, Sarah Wilhite Parsons, Sydney Hilley, Morgan Hentz, Elise Goetzinger (Omaha)
Atlanta pulled off a thrilling reverse sweep Friday night, defeating Omaha 3-2 (23-25, 17-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-6).
Sydney Hilley finished with 49 assists and 11 digs for the Supernovas. Nuneviller led the team offensively with 18 kills on 58 attempts while adding two blocks and 10 digs. Hentz anchored the back row with a team-high 16 digs and posted a 48 percent positive reception rate.
Sarah Wilhite Parsons recorded 14 kills and 15 digs while handling a match-high 41 serve receptions as Atlanta consistently targeted her in serve receive. Rookie Elise Goetzinger continued her strong start, tallying nine kills to surpass her previous season high, along with one block, one ace, one dig, and one assist.
Atlanta was led by Leah Edmond, who recorded 21 kills with just two errors on 43 attempts.
Atlanta Vibe vs. San Diego Mojo
AU players: McKenna Vicini, Kayla Caffey, Marlie Monserez (San Diego)
San Diego picked up its first win of the season Sunday, outlasting Atlanta in five sets for a 3-2 (26-24, 26-24, 25-19, 19-25, 15-13) victory.
Caffey finished with four kills and no errors on six attempts to post a team-high .667 hitting percentage. She currently ranks third in the league in offensive efficiency with 22 kills on 39 attempts and just three errors this season.
Monserez recorded a team-high 55 assists and 19 digs, while McKenna Vicini added a team-best three blocks in the win.
Team Records after Week 2
Orlando Valkyries: 3-0
Indy Ignite: 2-0
Atlanta Vibe: 2-2
Omaha Supernovas: 2-2
Dallas Pulse: 1-1
Grand Rapids Rise: 1-1
Columbus Fury: 1-3
San Diego Mojo: 1-3
Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Instagram and X @sieraajones.
