IUPUI 3, South Dakota 1
VERMILLION, S.D. – Behind furious comebacks in sets one and three, the IUPUI volleyball team was able to notch its first road conference win of the season Friday evening defeating South Dakota, 3-1, in Summit League action. The win upped IUPUI’s overall record to 7-10 and improved its Summit League mark to 2-4.
“I have to give the team credit for never quitting and pushing hard at the end of every one of those sets,” said head coach
Steve Payne. “Our aggressive defense carried us to the win and we have been in this situation before. This time we were able to push through and finish.”
The Jags got out to a sluggish start falling behind 7-1 in the opening set until three kills by
Moriah Fair and a pair of kills from
Kelsey Hoefer helped the Jags mount a furious rally that eventually tied the score at 12. An IUPUI service error followed before two kills by Fair, two Coyotes errors, and a
Shari Bernhardt ace saw the Jags jump on top, 17-13. The Jaguars lead eventually grew to five points, 20-15, before South Dakota mounted a comeback that saw it close within one point, 24-23. However, IUPUI used a block from Fair and
Kortni Wright to give the Jags a 25-23 opening-set win.
Neither team could seize control in set two until the midway point when South Dakota rallied off seven of eight points to take what was a 10-10 tie and make it a 17-11 Coyotes lead. The struggles continued for IUPUI as it mustered just three points down the stretch resulting in a 25-14 USD win in set two.
Similar to the second set, the third set was tight at the start until USD captured 11 points over a 13-point stretch to reverse a 9-7 deficit into an 18-11 cushion. Despite the deficit, IUPUI refused to give up and it used kills by six different players to eventually close within two points late in the set, 24-22. With USD having two set points, the Jags got a few breaks as a Coyotes service error and attack error spoiled both set points and evened things up at 24. A Wright kill put the Jags one point away from completing a huge comeback and it was capped off with a block from Hoefer and Fair, securing an improbable 26-24 third-set win for the Jags.
IUPUI used the momentum gained from set three to hold an early lead at 5-4, but a five-point Coyotes surge put the Coyotes ahead, 9-5. The Jaguars remained close but could not get closer than one point. IUPUI closed within one point on seven occasions with the Jaguars finally pulling even on the seventh try as a
Beth Howard kill tied things at 23 forcing a Coyotes timeout. After one set point for IUPUI was spoiled, a kill by
Bethany Fogler followed by a Meeks dump-kill completed a 26-24 fourth-set win, securing the Jaguars first conference road win of the season.
Fair and Hoefer each posted a team-high 11 kills, with Fair adding 10 digs marking her second kill-dig double-double of the season. As a team, IUPUI totaled 10.0 team blocks led by Wright’s five block assists.
The Jaguars continue their road trip on Sunday, Oct. 2, when they put their two-match winning streak on the line at UMKC at 3 p.m. ET.
