Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. – For the first time since 2009, the IUPUI volleyball team reached the 10-win mark in Summit League play after defeating Omaha, 3-0 (28-26, 25-18, 25-17), Friday evening.
The win upped IUPUI’s overall record to 17-9, while improving to 10-3 in the conference. The match against Omaha was the Jaguars final road conference test of the season and IUPUI finished 5-3 in road league matches this season.
“It’s good to win on the road and take care of business against a team that is improving and good on its home floor,” said head coach
Steve Payne. “We had a goal at the beginning of the season to finish above .500 on the road and we did that. It shows we have some toughness and can win against some good teams in this league.”
Bethany Fogler and
Kaitlyn Hickey both led IUPUI with 10 kills in the win, but Fogler managed to hit .562 in the win and was one of three players to contribute five blocks in the win.
Despite the first set being close, IUPUI held the lead from the get-go until a five-point Omaha run turned a one-point IUPUI lead into a four-point Omaha lead, 19-15. Still trailing by four, 21-17, a quick three-point spurt highlighted by a
Beth Howard ace brought the Jags back within one point, 21-20. Five ties followed, with the last at 26-26, before a Mavericks attack error and a block from
Kortni Wright and
Kelsey Hoefer clinched the come-from-behind 28-26 opening-set victory for IUPUI.
Omaha jumped out to a 12-9 lead in set two, before Wright helped score three points during a six-point run on a pair of blocks and a kill to catapult IUPUI on top, 15-12. The Jaguars advantage continued to fluctuate between one and three points until two more blocks aided a four-point surge that opened up a 24-18 lead. Following a side out, Hickey delivered a kill finishing off the 25-18 second-set triumph.
Out of the break, Hoefer delivered three kills to get the offense going and lifted the Jags to a 10-6 lead. The lead grew to five at 13-8, but Omaha was able to crawl back within one point at 13-12, before eventually knotting the score at 14-14. Three Mavericks miscues during the next four points helped IUPUI jump back in front, 17-15, and from there, Fogler and Fair teamed up for a block,
Ellyn Jones served up an ace and Fogler put down another kill pushing the Jaguars lead to five, 20-15, forcing Omaha to use a timeout. With the lead still at five, 22-17, kills by Fogler and Hickey gave IUPUI set point, and an Omaha ball handling error during the next point secured a 25-17 third-set win.
Hickey led the Jags with 18 digs in the three-set match. Fair and Wright were the other two Jags to tally five blocks.
IUPUI has the weekend off and returns to non-conference action on Tuesday, Oct. 30, for its final regular-season road match of the season at Eastern Illinois. The match is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET.
