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INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI volleyball team was in position to win its home tournament for the first time in seven tries, but Ball State stood in the way and defeated the Jaguars 3-0 (19-25, 16-25, 21-25) Saturday evening in the finale of the 2012 IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational.

IUPUI, Ball State and North Texas all finished tied with a 2-1 record for the tournament, but North Texas won the tiebreaker on set win-loss percentage. Ball State finished second, while the Jaguars finished third.

Ball State quickly jumped on the Jaguars behind the serving of Lauren Schlaker in the opening set. Schlaker repeatedly kept IUPUI out of sync offensively and propelled the Cardinals to an early seven-point run that put Ball State on top, 10-3. Kills from Kelsey Hoefer, Kaitlyn Hickey and Bethany Fogler helped the Jaguars climb back within three points, 12-9. Unfortunately, that would be as close as IUPUI closed within as Ball State slowly pulled away and took the first set, 25-19.

Things didn't get much better for the Jags in the second set as the Cardinals again won the race to 10 climbing in front 10-4. The Cardinals lead grew to as many as 11 and Ball State ultimately cruised to a 25-16 second-set win, placing IUPUI behind two sets to none.

IUPUI came out of the break with more intensity and used three kills by Hoefer to help take a 6-3 lead forcing Ball State to burn a timeout. With its three-point lead still intact at 13-10, Ball State again used a long service run, this time from Jacqui Seidel, to catapult in front, 15-13. Kills by Fair and Hickey knotted the score back at 15, but a four-point Cardinals surge placed them back on top, 19-15. IUPUI closed with two points four times, with the last occurrence at 23-21, but an IUPUI attack error preceded a Kylee Baker kill finishing off the 25-21 Cardinals victory.

Hickey led IUPUI with 11 kills and added 10 digs, while Hoefer followed with eight kills. For her performance throughout the weekend, Hoefer earned all-tournament honors.

North Texas' Carnae Dillard took home MVP honors for the tournament champions, North Texas. Her teammates, Courtney Windham and Shelby Tamura, earned all-tournament honors, along with Ball State's Lisa Scott and Baker, Georgia State's Eliza Zachary and Hoefer.

IUPUI returns to the floor on Tuesday, Sept. 4, when it closes out its five-match homestand against Butler at 7 p.m. inside The Jungle. The match can be viewed online at IUPUI Live! via IUPUIJags.com for $4.95.