Box Score | Box Score (.pdf)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Playing their fourth straight five-set match, the IUPUI volleyball team squandered a 2-0 lead in falling 3-2 to UMKC Saturday night at the Swinney Recreation Center.  Rachel Holmes led the Jaguars with 30 digs, as IUPUI recorded a season-high 112 digs on the night.

IUPUI (14-7, 6-5 Summit) went 2-2 over their four straight five-set matches, winning the first and third matches at Oakland and Southern Utah, while falling to IPFW and UMKC (9-12, 5-6 Summit).  The loss keeps the Jaguars clustered in a tie for fourth place in The Summit League, one game behind Oakland for second.

Lindsey Weber had a team-high 18 kills in the match, while Kalyse Reimbold and Ashley Johnson added 13 and 10, respectively.

Defensively, the Jags turned in 112 digs, led by Holmes' career-high 30.  Shari Bernhardt had 26 digs, while Danielle Goodnight had a double-double with 45 assists and 20 digs. 

Weber and Reimbold each joined Goodnight with double-doubles, finishing with 16 and 10 digs, respectively.

The Jaguars held one set point in the match, coming in the fifth set with a 16-15 lead after a kill by Johnson.  However, Kelsey Knoche followed with a kill to knot the set and Brittany Fossier followed with a block of a Johnson attack attempt, giving the Kangaroos their second match point of the evening.  An IUPUI attack error closed the match.

For the first two sets, it appeared as if the Jaguars would not see a fifth set, as they jumped on the Kangaroos early in the opening set, using a 9-1 run to open an 18-7 lead.  Monica Suding got the roll going with a kill off a feed from Goodnight, and three straight UMKC errors helped the Jags take a 12-6 lead.

Weber followed with a kill, while Holmes added a service ace to the effort.  Kills from Reimbold and Weber extended the lead to 16-7; a Weber ace closed the run.

UMKC answered the Jags' run with a 14-6 run of their own, closing within 24-22 to force IUPUI into a timeout.  However, having missed out on three previous set point chances, a Weber kill closed the set and gave IUPUI the early lead.

It was more of the same in the second set for IUPUI as they ran away midway through the set to take a commanding 2-0 lead.  Though UMKC took a timeout trailing 8-11, the Jaguars kept applying pressure, slowly extending their lead as the match wore on.

A Reimbold kill to the corner and a Weber ace pushed the Jaguars' lead to five, where it remained for most of the set.  Holmes and Suding came up with a block to extend the advantage to six, and Weber and Goodnight sandwiched kills around a Nicole Ramey ace to close the set.

However, UMKC served notice that they would not go quietly in the third set, running away with a 25-8 win.  The Kangaroos led throughout, holding IUPUI to just five kills in the set.

In a tense fourth set, the Jaguars rallied from a late five-point deficit, knotting the match at 19 after kills from Johnson and Weber.  The teams traded the lead over the next eight points, with UMKC setting up a set point after a block by Knoche.  The Kangaroos set up the decisive fifth set after a kill from McQuin closed the set.

IUPUI will host South Dakota State and North Dakota State in two key Summit League matches next weekend, with Friday marking IUPUI's Dig Pink effort on Friday.  Before the Jaguars reach the weekend, however, they will host Valparaiso in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, Oct. 20.  The match will begin from The Jungle at 7 p.m.