Columbus Fury collect 3-1 victory over Omaha in home opener
Photo by: Sam Fahmi / Columbus Wired
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Fury made its long awaited home debut on Wednesday evening taking the court against the visiting Omaha Supernovas. An energetic crowd of 9,165 spectators packed the lower bowl of Nationwide Arena and were treated to a thriller as the host Fury downed the Supernovas 3-1 (25-12, 25-21, 25-23, 25-23) to claim their first victory as members of the Pro Volleyball Federation.
“I think overall it was an amazing night for the City of Columbus,” said Fury Head Coach Ángel Pérez. “We’re just really happy to be part of it. I thought the atmosphere has been great, ever since we got to practice here (at Nationwide Arena) for the first time yesterday, the girls walked in, the music was playing, and it’s a total different thing.”
SET ONE
Reagan Cooper collected the first point of the night for Columbus as she capitalized on a service error from Omaha setter Sydney Hilley. Following a quick answer from Supernovas the Fury mounted a 4-0 scoring run with the help of Cooper and fellow rookie Asjia O’Neal to give the hosts a 7-3 advantage in the first set.
The Supernovas clawed back in the set getting to within one point before an attack from Megan Courtney Lush halted the run to make it 9-7 Fury.
Columbus enjoyed another strong scoring run, winning the next five points to extend its advantage to 16-9 in the first set.
O’Neal made her presence known once more in the latter portion of the set with one of her three blocks to make it 22-10 and she delivered the set victory with a massive hit placed just before the end line to give the hosts a 1-0 set advantage.
SET TWO
The Fury continued its momentum established in the first set, jumping out to an early 3-0 advantage. Columbus saw its advantage grow toas much as 6-1 before Omaha scored another point.
It was a frustrating second set for the visitors as they trimmed the Fury advantage to as little as two points, but the hosts continued to pull away and eventually claimed a 25-21 second set victory and improved their advantage to a 2-0 set lead.
SET THREE
Omaha emerged from the intermission with an early 3-1 lead in the third set. Columbus tied the set at 7-7 and took an 8-7 lead on back-to-back blocks by Kaitlyn Hord and Samantha Drechsel. A service error from Courtney-Lush made it eight points all, with both teams trading the lead.
Columbus jumped out to a 10-9 advantage on another scoring sequence that ended with Cooper collecting the point. The Fury made it 12-10 when O’Neal delivered a beautiful skip-set that fell to the floor as no Supernova player could corral it.
The visitors reclaimed the lead with a 19-18 advantage in the set and wouldn’t relinquish the advantage as both teams prepared for a fourth set.
SET FOUR
The fourth set started out with the visitors jumping ahead to a quick 2-0 advantage. The Supernovas grew their lead to as much a 4-1 scoreline before Columbus mounted a response. O’Neal and Cooper continued to show their dominance in the latter portion of the match, bringing the Fury ahead by a 5-4 margin after a 4-0 run.
Both clubs traded blows and eventually found themselves in an 18-18 deadlock late in the set.
Back-to-back points from Drechsel and teammate Rainelle Jones put Columbus in front and they would not look back. The dynamic duo of O’Neal and Cooper struck once more to claim the final two points of the match and deliver Columbus a memorable home victory and their first win in the PVF.
UP NEXT
Columbus travels to Sin City to battle the Vegas Thrill on Saturday, February 24th. First serve is scheduled for 10 PM.