The Omaha athletics programs return home after a successful week looking to finish their respective non-conference schedules on a high note. Four weekend home matchups headline the upcoming slate for the Mavericks. 

Men’s Golf

After teeing off their fall season last week, the Maverick men’s golf team returns home to play in the Bluejay Invitational hosted by Creighton. Five Omaha golfers will hit the course at Shadow Ridge Country Club hunting for a podium finish. 

Round three at last week’s Wildcat Invitational didn’t go as planned as an Omaha team score of +24 over par dropped them from 8th to 12th on the leaderboard. 

Senior Ethan Smith’s rounds mirrored the success for the Mavericks during the tourney. Smith shot even par in both rounds one and two but floundered in the third, logging a +9 on the scorecard. He’ll look to bounce back at home this week. 

Nolan Johnson and Spencer Clatt will look to build on their first meet scores of +9 and +15, respectively. Tyler Walker and Sam Vocelka will make their season debuts for the Mavericks. 

Omaha will hit the tees at Shadow Ridge on Sept. 15-16. 

Men’s Soccer

The Omaha men’s soccer team looks to keep improving after some close decisions. The Mavericks (0-4-2) battled with Creighton as a late comeback attempt fell short. They rounded out the week tying Bradley. 

Theo Klein, Italo Jenkins and Maguire Perkins all scored their first goals of the season last week. Sophomore forward Bradley Takamo still holds a program-high two scores on the season. The goalkeeping tandem of Cole Stewart and Kamy Ndione own a combined save percentage of .603. 

The Mavericks will take on Notre Dame to end their four-game road trip. The Fighting Irish (2-1-2) owns wins against Power 5 opponents Oregon State and Pittsburgh as well as an opening weekend tie with Michigan. Senior forward Wyatt Borso leads the way with one goal and ten shots on the young season. Goalkeeper Blake Kelly has surrendered just two goals and sports a .905 save percentage. 

After the bout in South Bend, Omaha will come home to Caniglia Field to host SIUE. The Cougars (1-4) are currently riding a three-game losing streak after their lone win against Air Force. Senior forward Evan Howard has starred for SIUE thus far. The former Coastal Carolina product has netted four goals to lead the program by a wide margin. Noah Scheidweiler has manned the goal for the Cougars and has logged 16 saves in 24 chances. 

Omaha will take on Notre Dame on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. and will host SIUE on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. 

Volleyball

The Maverick volleyball program returns to Baxter Arena for two home matches after splitting at the Cyclone Invitational. Omaha (3-4) earned a four-set win over St. Louis but fell to host team Iowa State in four sets. 

Outside hitters Morgan DeBow and Faith Venable earned All-Tournament Team honors but it was again Kali Jurgensmeier that led the Mavericks in Ames. The senior amassed 30 kills in the two matches, including 19 in the win against the Billikens. Her season kill total rises to 106 as she closes in on 1,000 career kills. 

Venable logged 23 kills at the event and has 63 in her freshman season thus far. 

The Mavericks will host South Florida to begin their weekend homestand. The Bulls (3-5) sport home wins against Florida State and South Carolina. It has been a slow start for USF after turning heads with a 19-10 record last season. 

Senior outside hitter Maria Clara Andrade leads the program with 105 kills and 3.75 kills per set. Raegan Richardson has totaled 200 assists and has appeared in all eight matches for the Bulls. 

Omaha then welcomes a ranked Kansas squad to Baxter Arena. The Jayhawks (6-4) are currently ranked 17th in the latest AVCA Division 1 women’s volleyball poll. They have impressed during a daunting first ten matches. All four losses have been five-set battles against the likes of Penn State, Wisconsin, Creighton and Purdue. 

Pin hitters Rhian Swanson and Jovana Zelenovic lead the Jayhawks with 127 and 109 kills, respectively. Swanson is averaging 3.53 kills per set with a team-high 315 total attempts. Sophomore setter Christin Cline has played a vital role with 314 assists on the season. 

The Mavericks will welcome the Bulls to Baxter Arena on Friday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. and the Jayhawks on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. 

Women’s Soccer

The Mavericks’ women’s soccer program bounced back in a big way after a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in the Dodge Street Derby against Creighton. Omaha set a D1 program record with seven goals in the 7-1 drubbing of Western Illinois as they head back to Caniglia Field. 

The Mavericks are padding the stat sheet as of late. Charley Kort, Emma Hampton and Payten Ivins sit tied with three goals apiece to lead the squad. Freshman forward Kendall Dobberstein is not far behind with two goals and a team-high four assists on the season. 

Omaha will host 25th-ranked Colorado State looking to extend their winning streak to two games. The Rams (6-1) entered the United Soccer Coaches poll rankings amid a 6-0 start before falling against Denver in their most recent contest. Senior forward Olivia Fout leads CSU with five goals and a .625 shot on goal percentage. Goalie Gray Wilson has logged 24 saves and allowed just four goals, good for a .857 save percentage. 

Omaha will suit up against Colorado State on Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. 

Cross Country

The Omaha cross-country team looks to improve upon their seventh-place finish at the Platte River Rumble Gold meet. The Mavericks’ next test lies in Lincoln at the Woody Greeno Invitational hosted by Nebraska. 

Four Omaha runners finished in the top half of the 103 placing contestants. Briley Early led the way with a 16th-place finish. Meredith Richter, Hope Riedel and Litzey Fredette also crossed the finish line in the top half of the race’s participants. Bridget McGill took 68th place to round out Omaha’s scorers as the Mavericks ended with 168 total team points. 

The Mavericks will head west on I-80 towards the state capital on Saturday, Sept. 20.Â