Box Score

VALPARAISO, Ind. – Heading into the night, the IUPUI volleyball team had played just three five-set matches on the season and was 1-2 in those matches, but that record dropped to 1-3 as Valparaiso rallied from a two-sets-to-one deficit to defeat the Jaguars, 3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 25-18, 16-25, 7-15), Tuesday evening in non-conference action.

The loss dipped the Jags to 16-9, while the Crusaders improved to 15-10.

The Jags jumped out to a 2-1 lead by hitting .251 in the first three sets compared to .225 for the Crusaders, but in the final two sets, Valparaiso countered by hitting .359 compared to .138 for the Jaguars proving to be the difference.

Both teams jockeyed for the early lead, but Valparaiso put down three kills and took advantage of an IUPUI attack error to take a 16-13 lead. Following a side out, consecutive Crusaders kills pushed their advantage to four, forcing head coach Steve Payne to burn his first timeout. Kills from Kortni Wright and Kelsey Hoefer coupled with a Valpo miscue helped IUPUI trim its deficit to two, 20-18, but that would be as close as the Jags got as Valparaiso took the opening set, 25-21.

After falling behind 4-1 early in set two, the Jags slowly fought back and tied the set four times before eventually taking its first lead off the set, 18-17, on a block from Hoefer and Wright and a Valpo attack error. With the Crusaders holding on to a 23-22 lead, a kill by Hickey preceded an ace, IUPUI’s first of the night, forcing a Valparaiso timeout while setting up a set point for the Jaguars. Out of the timeout, Valparaiso responded with a pair of kills to take a 25-24 lead, but the see-saw battle continued as kills by Fair and Hoefer reversed the momentum and put IUPUI back in front, 26-25. This time, the Jags put the set away on a Hoefer kill closing out the 27-25 second-set win.

Out of the break, a seven-point run featuring kills from Kaitlyn Hickey, Hoefer and Beth Howard gave the Jaguars a 15-8 cushion midway through the third set. For the remainder of the set, the Jags lead never dipped below four and kills by Wright and Hickey finished off a 25-18 triumph for the Jags.

Valparaiso took the opening point of the fourth set and never relinquished its lead. The Crusaders opened up a 16-9 lead midway through the set thanks in part to a handful of Jaguars errors. Valpo continued to grow its lead and ultimately took the fourth set, 25-16, setting up a decisive fifth set.

That momentum carried over to the fifth set for the Crusaders as they served up a pair of aces aiding a 6-2 run to begin the race to 15 points. As the teams switched sides, IUPUI had cut its deficit to three, 8-5, and the lead continued to shrink courtesy of a Valpo attack error during the next point. However, a three-point Crusaders surge escalated the lead to five points, 11-6. Out of the timeout, Valparaiso continued to increase its lead and ultimately took the final set, 15-7.

Four players reached double-figures in kills for IUPUI led by Hoefer’s 16 kills. Hickey and Moriah Fair each posted kill-dig double-doubles, while Alexis Meeks finished with 31 assists and 15 digs. Wright tied a career-high with nine kills en route to hitting .474.

Defensively, Howard led the Jags with 26 digs, while Fogler tallied a team-best six blocks.

The Jaguars return to Summit League action on Friday, Oct. 26, when they head to Omaha, Neb., to take on Omaha. The match is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET.