EVANSTON, Ill. – The IUPUI volleyball team came into Sunday's Wildcat Classic championship match looking for its second tournament title of the season, but tournament host Northwestern hit .347 leading it to a 3-0 (17-25, 21-25, 14-25) victory over the Jaguars Sunday afternoon.

The loss sent IUPUI to 6-9 as it enters Summit League action next weekend at Denver and South Dakota, while Northwestern upped its record to 8-4.

The high-powered Northwestern attack was clicking on all cylinders to start the opening set as the Wildcats used 10 kills and two blocks to take a 12-3 lead, forcing the Jags to burn both of their timeouts. IUPUI closed within six three times, but the Wildcats pushed through with a 25-17 first-set win.

The Jags block started to slow down the Northwestern attack in set two as three IUPUI block assists from six different players kept the Jaguars tied with the Wildcats as late as 12-12. Unfortunately, five Jags errors aided a Northwestern run helping it open a 19-14 advantage. The Wildcats cushion grew to seven at 21-14, until a kill from Skylar Wright ignited an IUPUI run that eventually brought it within two points at 23-21. Northwestern responded with kills on consecutive points to spoil the Jaguars comeback attempt and claim set two, 25-21.

Kelly Wachtel put down two kills and helped on a block with Kortni Wright early in set three to give the Jags a 5-3 lead out of the break. Northwestern took six of the next seven points to jump back in front, 9-6, but kills from Kortni Wright, Alexis Meeks and Kaitlyn Hickey trimmed that deficit to two points at 12-10. From that point, Northwestern seized 10 of the next 11 points to build a double-digit lead at 22-11, and ultimately took the third set, 25-14.

Wachtel finished with a team-high eight kills against Northwestern and was named to the Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team after hitting at a .388 clip resulting in 3.70 kps. Joining Wachtel on the All-Tournament Team was Meeks, who finished the three-match tournament averaging 10.6 aps and 3.0 dps.

IUPUI finishes its lengthy road swing next weekend when it begins Summit League play at conference newcomer Denver. The Jags and the Pioneers meet at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 27, before finishing the weekend at South Dakota on Sunday, Sept. 29.