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DENVER – Summit League action begins this weekend when the IUPUI volleyball team travels to Denver, Colo., to open its conference campaign against league newcomer Denver on Friday, Sept. 27, before making its way to Vermillion, S.D., to square off against South Dakota on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Friday's match against the Pioneers is set for 9 p.m. ET, while Sunday's match will begin at 2 p.m. ET. IUPUI carries over a five-match conference regular-season winning streak into Friday's match against Denver, who plays its first match as a member of the Summit League.

"We have played a tough non-conference schedule to prepare us for the Summit League and we are excited to begin this part of our schedule this weekend," head coach Steve Payne said. "We took some positive steps forward last weekend and hopefully we can build on that this weekend."

The Jaguars are coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Wildcat Classic last weekend that upped their record to 6-9 entering conference action. Kelly Wachtel had her finest weekend up to this point of the season last weekend en route to earning Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team honors. Wachtel averaged 3.70 kills per set for the week and hit .388 to lead IUPUI in both categories. The orchestrator of the offense, Alexis Meeks, was also named to the All-Tournament Team marking the third time she's been named to an All-Tournament Team this season. Meeks averaged 10.60 assists per set and 3.00 dps in three matches against Miami (OH), South Florida and Northwestern.

After her performance last weekend, Wachtel is now averaging 2.46 kps on the season, but Moriah Fair and Kaitlyn Hickey lead the squad averaging 3.67 kps and 3.18 kps, respectively. Defensively, Beth Howard leads the conference in digs averaging 4.86 dps, while Kortni Wright averages a team-best 0.75 bps.

Denver enters its first Summit League match with a 6-7 record and the Pioneers are led offensively by Colleen King's 3.13 kps. Bailey Karst runs the offense and averages a Summit League-leading 10.71 aps, while helping the team post a hitting percentage of .246. Kate Acker anchors the back row defense averaging 4.04 dps, while Sarah Schmid is the team's top blocker at 0.91 bps.

South Dakota comes into conference play with a 9-6 overall record and it is led by Kendall Kritenbrink, who ranks second and fifth in the league in kills and aces with 4.30 kps and 0.30 sa/s, respectively. The Coyotes boast one of the top blocks in the country led by Melissa Firtko and Kelsey Biltoft. USD ranks 18th nationally with 2.73 bps, and Firtko and Biltoft rank second and third, respectively, in the conference averaging 1.20 bps and 1.13 bps.