Box Score | Highlights | Steve Payne Interview

INDIANAPOLIS – Strong serving, which included six aces, led the IUPUI volleyball team to a three-set sweep (25-23, 25-19, 25-16) over South Dakota State in Summit League action Saturday evening inside The Jungle.

The six aces were IUPUI’s most since recording six back on Sept. 8 against Tennessee Tech, and helped the Jags improve to 16-8 overall and 9-3 in the conference. The Jackrabbits fell to 14-9 overall and 6-5 in the Summit League.

“With six aces and no errors, we served the ball really well tonight. We hit our zones and really took them out of their offense and they couldn’t use their top hitters in the middle. Our offense did the rest from there,” head coach Steve Payne said.

Kaitlyn Hickey had four of the team’s six aces and added nine kills and 12 digs for the Jags. Ellyn Jones added the other two aces and posted a team-high 19 assists.

Offensively, Moriah Fair and Kelsey Hoefer led a balanced offensive attack with 10 kills apiece.

Kills by four different Jaguars and Hickey’s first ace of the night helped IUPUI sprint out to a 7-2 lead in the opening set. The lead grew to as many as eight at 15-7, but a furious rally from the Jackrabbits catapulted them in front, 19-17. Four ties ensued, with the last at 22, before a solo block from Kortni Wright and a Hoefer kill gave IUPUI set point at 24-22. Following a SDSU side out, a Jackrabbits service error gave IUPUI a 25-23 first-set win.

Despite falling behind 2-0 in set two, three Hickey kills coupled with four IUPUI blocks allowed IUPUI to build a 15-6 lead midway through the set. Both of Jones’ aces came late in the set pushing the Jags lead to 11 at 24-13, but a six-point SDSU run cut the IUPUI advantage to 24-19. However, a Fogler kill snapped the run and closed out a 25-19 second-set victory.

Two Hoefer kills, two Hickey aces and a Jackrabbits attack error gave the Jags a 5-0 lead to start the third set and the Jaguars never looked back. The lead dropped to four a handful of times, but the Jackrabbits never really threatened down the stretch. Multiple kills by Fair, Hoefer and Hickey kept IUPUI in front by a comfortable distance and a block from Wright and Hoefer on match point finished off a 25-16 third-set victory.

Not only did IUPUI pick up the weekend sweep with the victory, but the Jags achieved their goal of raising more than $2,000 for breast cancer research during its Dig Pink Weekend.

IUPUI returns to the road on Tuesday, Oct. 23, when they travel north to Valparaiso, Ind., to take on the Valparaiso Crusaders. The match is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET.