Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS -- Needing a win to remain in the thick of The Summit League Tournament hunt, the IUPUI volleyball team hung tough in recording a 3-1 win over Oakland Friday night at The Jungle.  Four Jaguars finished with 10 or more digs, including Shari Bernhardt and Danielle Goodnight, who each posted a double-double in the 27-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17 win.

IUPUI (10-10, 3-4 Summit) controlled the match throughout, using 83 digs and strong sideout play to limit Oakland's (5-15, 2-6 Summit) attack.  Chelsea Bastin led the Jaguars with a team-high 23 digs, while Bernhardt had 16 to go along with a team-high 15 kills.  Danielle Goodnight came away with 15 digs and a match-high 37 assists.  Rachel Holmes was the fourth Jaguar in double figures with 10 digs.

The Jaguars came out of the gate sluggish in the opening set, falling behind 10-4 before Steve Payne took a timeout to grab his team's attention.  Whatever Payne said during the 1-minute break seemed to work, as the Jags quickly worked their way into the match, going on an 11-5 run to tie the set at 15.

After Oakland's Adrienne Leone put the Grizzlies ahead 21-19 with an ace, a Kalyse Reimbold kill cut the Jags' deficit in half, and an OU attack error knotted the set at 21.  Ashley Johnson took a feed from Goodnight and recorded her second kill of the set to give IUPUI a 22-21 lead and force an Oakland timeout.

The teams traded points, with an Oakland attack error giving IUPUI their first set point of the evening.  Jenna Lange tied the set for the Golden Grizzlies, but Bernhardt posted her fifth kill of the set to creat set point #2.  An IUPUI error tied the set again, but Bernhardt came through with another kill, and after an Oakland attack error, the Jaguars had rallied for a 27-25 win.

As they did in the opening set, the Jaguars took over 60 percent of their sideout opportunities in the second set, never looking back after taking an 11-10 lead.  However, the Jaguars did come out the gate slowly for the second straight set, falling behind 10-7 after a Lange kill.

Just as they had previously, IUPUI went on a 7-0 run, turning their three-point deficit into a four-point lead after a Goodnight kill.  Oakland closed within two at 15-13, but Monica Suding came through with one of her 9 kills to push the Jags back ahead, 16-13.  A Reimbold kill made it 18-15, and consecutive Reimbold service aces pushed IUPUI ahead 20-15.

Oakland had one run left in the set, closing within two at 22-20 after an IUPUI error.  However, kills by Suding and Goodnight sandwiched a Grizzly point, forcing an OU timeout with the score 24-21 in favor of the Jags.  Reimbold closed the set with a kill to give the Jags a 2-0 lead heading into intermission.

The third straight slow start to a set was too much for the Jaguars to overcome.  Oakland raced out to a 6-1 lead and never trailed on their way to a 25-22 win.  IUPUI tried to come back in the set, getting a Reimbold kill to close within a point at 13-12.  However, Oakland went on a 5-1 run to re-open a five-point advantage and force IUPUI's second timeout of the set.

The Jaguars broke their huddle determined to close the gap, but Oakland took the first two points out of the break to open a 20-13 lead.  Still, the Jags kept pushing, taking four straight points to cut their deficit to four, causing Oakland to burn a timeout.  The break did not stop IUPUI's momentum, as the Jags took advantage of two Grizzlies errors and a Suding kill to come within 23-21 and cause Oakland to take their final timeout.

The effort used in coming back eventually ran out for the Jags, as two Oakland kills closed the match and brought the Grizzlies within one set of tying the match.

After three consecutive sluggish starts, the Jaguars appeared to learn their lesson, turning the tables on Oakland in jumping out to a 7-2 lead, forcing a quick OU timeout.  Still, the Grizzlies could not stop the IUPUI attack, as the Jags enjoyed their finest performance on Oakland's serve, taking 70 percent of their sideout opportunities.

Between Oakland timeouts, the Jaguars used a 10-5 run to put a stranglehold on the set and match.  Bernhardt capped one of her best overall performances of the year with her 15th kill of the night to punctuate the 25-17 set and match win.

The Jaguars will be back in action tomorrow night when they host IPFW at The Jungle.  The match will start at 7 p.m., and the Jaguars will be raising money for Komen for the Cure as part of the Dig for Cure.  For more information, click here.