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INDIANAPOLIS -- After a sloppy first set, the IUPUI volleyball team made a point of having cleaner, more crisp points. The result was a 3-1 victory over Centenary at The Jungle on Saturday night, moving the Jaguars back over .500 in Summit League play with the 19-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-20 win.
IUPUI (12-5, 4-3 Summit) used a balanced offense throughout the night to keep Centenary (3-14, 0-7 Summit) off-kilter over the final three sets;
Rachel Holmes set five different Jaguars on the night, using both
Lindsey Weber and
Kalyse Reimbold in back-row attacks to change up the play.
Weber led the Jags with 16 kills, one shy of her career high, while Reimbold chipped in 15. Both players hit .250 for the night.
The Jaguars were just as opportunistic defensively, coming away with 65 digs on the night, led by Reimbold's 16. Holmes picked up her second straight double-double with 13 digs to go along with 42 assists.
Despite picking up their 13th straight win over the Ladies, head coach
Steve Payne knows the Jaguars have work to do.
"We just have to do a better job of minimizing our errors," Payne said following the match. "In that first set, we made too many mistakes; we sharpened our focus some over the last three sets and the results improved. I'm happy to pick up the win tonight, but we need to fine-tune some things in the next week's practice."
In a sloppy first set reminiscent of Friday night's defeat to Oral Roberts, IUPUI committed nine attack errors, five of which were the result of Centenary blocks. Four service errors also handed the Ladies free points in the 19-25 defeat.
After the set, the Jaguars regrouped, playing one of their finest defensive sets of the year. Centenary served the ball 13 times in the set, picking up points on their final two serves of the set; IUPUI recorded a sideout on the first 11 Ladies' services of the set.
Distributing the ball around, Holmes found Weber for five of her 16 kills and
Ashley Johnson picked up four of her six kills on the night in the set, as the Jaguars found a strong rhythm and dominated the set, 25-13.
For the set, IUPUI hit .394, recording just two errors in 33 attack attempts; conversely, the Jaguars held Centenary to a .029 attack percentage.
With the match tied at a set apiece, IUPUI sustained their momentum into the third set, continuing to hit above .300 for the set. This time it was Reimbold who led the Jaguar attack, coming up with six kills in 12 attempts.
While Centenary threatened at times in the set, the Jags responded positively each time, slowly pulling away. A Holmes and Johnson block started a 3-0 run on
Monica Suding's serve that put IUPUI up 12-9 and forced the Ladies to burn an early timeout.
Though Centenary came within a single point on several occasions midway through the set, IUPUI never buckled, as Reimbold strung together three straight kills, along with two from Weber, turning a 19-16 lead into a dominating 24-16 advantage. Another Reimbold kill would close the set and give the Jaguars a commanding 2-1 lead.
It was more of the same in the fourth set, as the Jaguars were able to pick up key points whenever they needed. Tied at 10, the Jags capitalized on a Centenary service error and followed it with a beautifully placed kill from Holmes in the back corner to go up 12-10 and force the Ladies into a timeout.
From that point, IUPUI never trailed, keeping Centenary at arms' length. Kills from Suding and Weber preceded a
Nicole Ramey ace, helping the Jaguars push their lead to 16-12 midway through the set. Another kill from Holmes helped the Jags reestablish a four-point cushion at 19-15, resulting in another Centenary timeout.
Though the Ladies would attempt one more rally in the match, closing within three points at 21-18, the Jaguars buckled down and picked up two key sideouts on Reimbold kills. Johnson closed the match withe a kill down the line to clinch the victory.
The Jaguars will head on the road for their next four matches, beginning with Summit League tilts at Oakland and IPFW Oct. 9 and 10, respectively.
