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INDIANAPOLIS – Behind 19 kills from Moriah Fair, the IUPUI volleyball team got back on track Friday evening defeating Summit League foe Western Illinois, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-14), in its first home match since Aug. 31.

The win moved IUPUI to 7-11 overall and 1-2 in the Summit League, while extending its home conference winning streak to 11 matches. Western Illinois fell to 7-10 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

"Our passers did a great job getting the ball up to Alexis, she put the ball right on the money and from there our hitters were smart and put the ball away," head coach Steve Payne said. "Moriah did a good job of getting her feet to the ball, which was something we worked on this week. She took what we did in practice, used it in the game and she did a great job of mixing her shots up."

Fair's 19 kills were a result of her hitting at a .571 clip, and as a team, IUPUI hit .478 for the match marking the fourth-best hitting percentage in a three-set match in program history. In addition to Fair's performance, senior Alexis Meeks reached a career milestone Friday evening as her eight digs pushed her past 1,000 digs for her career.

"I had no idea I was even that close (to 1,000 digs), and especially as a setter you only play back row half the time," Meeks said. "It's a huge accomplishment and I'm going to go out there and try to get some more now."

Fair got IUPUI's first point of the match putting down a kill at the left antenna and it was a sign of what was to come for the remainder of the match. Four more kills from Fair and kills from three other Jags helped IUPUI climb to a 12-10 lead. Western Illinois scored three of the next four points to tie the score at 13, but three more kills from Fair and a pair of kills from Hickey allowed the Jaguars to open a 21-16 lead, forcing WIU to burn a timeout. The Leathernecks scored a side out following the timeout, but IUPUI seized four of the next five points, including a kill from Kelly Wachtel, to close out the run and finish off a 25-18 opening-set victory. The Jaguars hit .545 in the first stanza led by Fair's .778 clip that resulted in eight kills.

The impressive play continued for IUPUI early in set two as it raced out to a 9-3 cushion. Western Illinois closed its deficit to five at 11-6, before kills from Walling and Wachtel, and a kill and an ace from Fair pushed the Jaguars advantage to eight, 15-7. Leading 20-13, Meeks distributed the ball to Fair and Wachtel down the stretch and the duo recorded IUPUI's final five points as it took set two, 25-17.

Out of the 10-minute break, a four-point surge from the Jags featuring a kill from Meeks and two from Fair took a one-point lead and moved it to five, 11-6. The IUPUI cushion fluctuated between three and five until a kill off a slide from Kortni Wright and two Leathernecks miscues catapulted the Jags on top, 20-13. From that point, IUPUI cruised to a 25-14 third-set win.

Wachtel also reached double digits in kills with 10 and hit at a .400 clip, while Beth Howard led all players with 17 digs.
The Jags return to action on Saturday, Oct. 5, when they welcome Omaha to The Jungle. The match is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.