KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After falling in five games the previous night and dropping the first game at UMKC, it would have been easy for the IUPUI volleyball team to lick their wounds. Instead, the Jaguars rallied to defeat UMKC, 3-1, on Saturday night at the Swinney Recreation Center to move to .500 in Summit League play.
IUPUI (8-6, 1-1 Summit) received 20 kills from senior Devika Bellamy to go along with 11 digs - her second double-double in as many nights. Fellow senior Carol Newell chipped in 16 kills, as IUPUI hit .179 for the match.
Sophomore Hillary Houston posted her second consecutive double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs. Five Jaguars had double-figure digs, with sophomore Rachel Holmes leading the way with 17.
Junior Chelsea Bastin had 16, while sophomore Danielle Goodnight had 11 to go along with 51 assists.
The Jaguars played UMKC (3-7, 0-1 Summit) close in the first game, falling behind by five early before rallying to take at 17-15 lead. However, the Kangaroos reversed course and scored four straight points to force an IUPUI timeout.
UMKC built on their lead after the break, going up 22-17, but IUPUI came back, using two aces from Goodnight and a kill from freshman Lauran Thompson to force a UMKC timeout with the score 25-24.
The timeout served the Kangaroos well, as they extended their lead to 29-25 before an IUPUI timeout prevented the game-winning point by two serves, as UMKC won, 30-27.
Instead of panicking, however, the Jaguars calmly and effectively came back to even the match at a game apiece. IUPUI blitzed UMKC to begin the second game, going up 6-1 and forcing the Kangaroos to burn a timeout.
While the Roos came back to tie the game at 17, the Jaguars used the serve of Bellamy to reel off five straight points, going up 22-17 and using the Kangaroos' last remaining timeout.
UMKC had one more run left, closing to within 25-22, but the Jaguars showed their resiliency, using a kill from Newell to push their lead back to 27-22 and cruise to a 30-24 win.
While IUPUI fell behind early in the third game, they did not let UMKC run away, eventually knotting the game at 11 apiece before taking control due to an 8-4 run. Still, the game was not over, as the Kangaroos then responded by closing within one point at 21-20.
Two kills from Newell and an UMKC error pushed the lead to four points, giving the Jaguars some breathing room. This came in handy when the Kangaroos took the next three points to force an IUPUI timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, it was all IUPUI, as a Bellamy kill gave the serve back to the Jags, where Holmes controlled the next three IUPUI points, pushing the advantage to 28-24. A kill by Houston gave the Jaguars a commanding 2-1 lead heading into game four.
The fourth game went back and forth, with 15 ties and four lead changes. The teams traded leads early before three consecutive UMKC errors helped IUPUI open a 12-9 lead. The lead was short-lived, as the Kangaroos picked up three straight points to tie, and with the game knotted at 15, used a 6-3 run to force a Jaguar timeout.
The lead grew to as many as five before IUPUI used an 8-3 run to tie the game at 27. With the game knotted, neither team could take a two-point lead to claim the game before IUPUI used an attack error and Houston kill to turn a 32-32 tie into a 34-32 win and take the match.
The Jaguars will return to The Jungle on Tuesday, September 18, to take on the University of Cincinnati. The match will begin at 7 p.m..
