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INDIANAPOLIS – Looking to get on track following a tough five-set loss to Illinois State to open the season on Friday, the IUPUI volleyball team was unable to get into the win column after suffering another five-set loss in its second match of the 2013 IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational to VCU Saturday afternoon at The Jungle.

The loss dropped IUPUI to 0-2 on the young season, while VCU improved to 2-0.

For the second straight match, IUPUI was led offensively by Moriah Fair's 18 kills, while Kaitlyn Hickey and Kelly Wachtel added 13 kills and 12 kills, respectively.

The opening set was tight in the early going as each team tried to find an offensive rhythm until the Jags did just that using kills from Wachtel and Logan Walling, a Fair ace and a pair of VCU errors to open a 17-12 advantage. A Rams service error gave IUPUI set point at 24-19, but VCU rallied to close within two at 24-22. However, a kill through the seam by Fair closed out a 25-22 first-set win.

That momentum from the first set continued for IUPUI in set two as it jumped in front by as many as six, 11-5, but that momentum quickly switched as the Rams captured 10 of the next 12 points to catapult in front, 15-13. Five ties ensued, with the last at 21-21, but three consecutive points from VCU gave the Rams three set points. The Jags spoiled one of those opportunities, but a Romana Kriskova kill clinched the second set for VCU.

Out of the break, the Jags took 12 of the first 15 points behind a handful of Hickey kills, including the first seven points, to take a commanding nine-point advantage, 12-3. The Rams chipped away at the IUPUI advantage and eventually closed to within two points, 21-19. A Fair kill re-established a three-point lead, 22-19, and three consecutive VCU errors gave the Jags a 25-19 third-set win. Hickey led the Jags with five kills in the third set.

Unlike the previous sets, the Rams took control early in set four jumping out to an 8-3 lead. The Jags retaliated behind some powerful kills from Wachtel to take nine of the next 11 points to take their first lead of the set, 12-10. Just when it looked like IUPUI could extend its lead, VCU's block stepped up and reversed a two-point deficit into a two-point lead, 17-15. The see-saw battle continued as the Jags took the lead at 22-21, but the Rams remained resilient down the stretch and took advantage of an IUPUI error to claim the fourth set, 26-24, and force a decisive fifth set.

With the score tied at six in the fifth set, the Rams made the first push using a kill and an IUPUI error to take an 8-6 lead as the team's switched sides. IUPUI closed within one point, twice, but that would be as close as it got as the Rams managed to seize the final set, 15-11.

The Jags close out the 2013 IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational at 6:30 p.m. later on Saturday against Florida Gulf Coast.