IUPUI 3, UMKC 0 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The IUPUI volleyball team used late rallies in sets one and three to pick up its third consecutive Summit League victory Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 win at UMKC. The win upped IUPUI’s record to 8-10 overall, matching its win total from last year, and moved its conference record to 3-4.

The blocking of the Jaguars has been a strength all season and it continued on Sunday thanks in part to Bethany Fogler, who tied a school-record with 10 total blocks, while setting a new school-record for total blocks in a three-set match.

“It’s always good to top a record and set a new one as our blocking has been a bright spot for us all year and hopefully that can continue,” said head coach Steve Payne. “Our perseverance helped us get over the top and get the win today, and I have to give credit to our blockers who got us out of some tough situations.”

“It’s great to have three wins in a row and our blocking really comes together when we can get a solid two person block to go up with great timing,” Fogler added.

IUPUI was its own worst enemy early in set one as nine errors helped UMKC take a 16-11 lead, forcing the Jags to burn a timeout. However, behind two kills and a block assist from Bethany Fogler coupled with three Kangaroos errors, the Jaguars found themselves back in front, 17-16. Three ties ensued, with the last at 20, before a mini UMKC spurt put the Kangaroos back in front, 23-21, forcing the Jags to burn their final timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, kills by Kalyse Reimbold and Meredith Farkas quickly evened the score at 23 putting the pressure back on the home team. An attack error from UMKC followed by a Farkas kill gave IUPUI the 25-23 opening-set win.

The Jaguars defense allowed IUPUI to find itself ahead at the midway point of the second set with five of IUPUI’s 15 points coming from its blocking as it led 15-12.  The Jags lead fluctuated between two and four points until an Alexis Meeks service ace put them on the doorstep of a step two win at 24-19. On the next point, a Kangaroos attack missed the court resulting in a 25-19 set two win for IUPUI.

Out of the 10-minute intermission, the leads switched sides three times until two kills by Farkas, a solo block from Fogler, and a block from Fogler and Farkas opened up an 18-12 IUPUI lead. The Kangaroos made a run and eventually recaptured a lead at 22-21. The Jags showed no panic and continued to fight resulting in back-to-back kills from Kortni Wright, a UMKC attack error, and a kill by Farkas to close out the Kangaroos, 25-22.

Reimbold finished with a team-high nine kills, while Farkas tallied two set-ending kills en route to a season-best eight kills. Both Beth Howard and Meeks led the team with 14 digs apiece. In addition to Fogler’s career-high 10 total blocks, Kelsey Hoefer added six total blocks.

The have five days off before traveling to Western Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 8. The match is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET