IUPUI vs. North Dakota State – Live Stats | Live Video
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INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI volleyball team begins the second half of its Summit League schedule this weekend as it welcomes North Dakota State and South Dakota State to The Jungle for a pair of conference clashes. The Jaguars first take on the Bison at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, before hosting its annual ‘Dig Pink’ match against the Jackrabbits at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15.

For its annual ‘Dig Pink’ match, the Jaguars will be wearing pink jerseys, accepting donations, and selling pink t-shirts to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. This year, the ‘Dig Pink’ game hits closer to home as former player Jen (Mertz) Will was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. She will be in attendance at the match against South Dakota State to assist IUPUI in reaching its fundraising goal.

LAST TIME OUT
It was a record night for the Jaguars as Shari Bernhardt set a new school record with 44 digs leading the Jaguars past Oakland, 3-2, giving the Jags their fifth straight victory.

Earlier this season in Summit League play, IUPUI held two sets to none or two sets to one leads over North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and IPFW, only to watch those leads disappear and ultimately result in losses. Even though Oakland rallied from a two sets to none deficit Tuesday night, IUPUI came together in the fifth and final set and pulled out the win.

“We learned from what happened earlier this season when we were up two sets to none or two sets to one and lost those matches,” said head coach Steve Payne. “We came out strong in set five and it always helps if you get stronger as you go.”

Part of the reason the Jags were able to bounce back was due to their back row defense which tallied 113 digs, the ninth best single-match mark in school history. Forty-four of those digs came from Bernhardt, proving to be three more digs than the previous record that was held by Erin Jones, who dug up 41 balls against Tennessee Tech on Sept. 17, 2005.  

“I didn’t realize how many digs she had as the match was going on, but she was everywhere tonight,” Payne said. “We were filtering the ball to her as much as we could with our defense to have her try and touch the ball as much as she could and [the record] is much deserved.”

“I knew this was a big conference game and Oakland is always pretty tough competition. I was kind of in a zone and we were really meshing well together as a team,” Bernhardt said. “It was a lot of fun out there playing together as a team.”

While Bernhardt’s effort highlighted the night, IUPUI had several other players reach personal milestones. Moriah Fair led all players with a career-high 22 kills in addition to a career-best 22 digs, becoming the 10th player in school history to record 20 kills and 20 digs in a match.

Kelsey Hoefer fell just shy of 20 kills posting a career-best 19 kills, while Bethany Fogler moved onto IUPUI’s single-season Top 10 list in solo blocks, block assists, and career blocks with four total blocks on the evening, which featured one solo block and three block assists.
 
(Full Recap)

IUPUI LEADERS

Category	Player	Statistics
K/S	Moriah Fair	3.01 k/s
A/S	Alexis Meeks	9.43 a/s
SA/S	Ellyn Jones	0.25 sa/s
D/S	Shari Bernhardt	5.31 d/s
B/S	Bethany Fogler	1.16 b/s

 
SCOUTING THE BISON AND THE JACKRABBITS
North Dakota State comes into the first weekend of the second half of the conference schedule with a 7-2 conference record and sits in a tie for second place in the league standings with IPFW. The Bison have a potent offensive attack with four players averaging over 2.00 kps led by Brynn Joki’s 3.21 kps.

NDSU is one of the top serving teams in the league averaging 1.63 aces per set as three players have totaled 28 or more aces this season.

South Dakota State begins the week with a 4-5 Summit League record and sits one game behind IUPUI, Oakland, and South Dakota for fourth place. Kellie Fiegen paces the Jackrabbits offense averaging 3.28 kps, while hitting an impressive .347.

SDSU is one of the better defensive teams in terms of digs averaging 17.05 dps, with 4.90 digs per set coming from Shay Birath.

IUPUI opened the Summit League schedule at NDSU and SDSU losing both matches after having a two sets to one lead in both contests.

STATISTICAL COMPARISON

NDSU (14-7; 7-2 SL)	Category	IUPUI (10-10; 5-4 SL)
13.45	Kills Per Set	11.93
.245	Hitting Percentage	.181
12.58	Assists Per Set	11.08
1.63	Service Aces Per Set	1.12
15.85	Digs Per Set	16.65
1.96	Blocks Per Set	2.29
8.32	Total Errors Per Set	8.26

 

SDSU (12-10; 4-5 SL)	Category	IUPUI (10-10; 5-4 SL)
11.80	Kills Per Set	11.93
.201	Hitting Percentage	.181
10.99	Assists Per Set	11.08
1.35	Service Aces Per Set	1.12
17.05	Digs Per Set	16.65
1.89	Blocks Per Set	2.29
7.91	Total Errors Per Set	8.26

 
ODDS AND ENDS

• Kalyse Reimbold is approaching the No. 2 spot on IUPUI’s all-time kills chart. She needs 85 kills to pass Marcy Bixler for second in program history.
• Shari Bernhardt is approaching IUPUI’s all-time digs record. She needs 169 more digs to break Erin Jones’ record of 2,067 career digs.