Box Score
DENVER – Trailing two sets to one in its Summit League opener against conference newcomer Denver, the IUPUI volleyball team was in position to extend the match to a fifth and decisive set, but the Pioneers made a late push to defeat the Jaguars, 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 18-25, 25-27), Friday evening.
The loss dropped the Jags to 6-10 overall and 0-1 in the league, while Denver evened its overall record at 7-7 and earned its first Summit League victory in its first league match. The IUPUI loss snapped its five-match, regular-season conference winning streak dating back to last season.
Beth Howard led all players with 29 digs, which tied her 10th in school history for most digs in a four-set match, and
Kaitlyn Hickey posted 16 kills, but Denver outhit IUPUI .275 to .221 and outblocked the Jags 12.0 to 8.0, proving to be the difference.
The Denver offense got off to a strong start offensively in the opening set hitting .667 in the early going, but three service errors from the Pioneers helped the Jags stay within striking distance. With the score tied at nine, Denver went on a five-point surge thanks to an ace, two kills and a pair of Jaguars errors, allowing it to open up a 14-9 advantage. Despite the deficit, the Jags and Pioneers exchanged a handful of side outs before the Jaguars made a run to knot the score at 21. During the run, IUPUI received kills from
Kelly Wachtel,
Kortni Wright and
Logan Walling, before a
Moriah Fair ace tied things up. Three more ties ensued, with the last at 24-24, before an IUPUI attack error gave the Pioneers their second set-point of the opening stanza. On the next Pioneers serve, the ball clipped the net and fell on the IUPUI side of the floor sending Denver to the 26-24 first-set win.
After falling behind 8-6 in set two, the Jags began to find a rhythm offensively and responded by taking eight of the next 11 points to catapult in front, 14-11, forcing a Denver timeout. During the run, Hickey recorded three kills and the Jags scored two more points on solo blocks from Walling and Hickey. Out of the timeout, IUPUI continued to extend its lead scoring the next four points to open an 18-11 cushion resulting in Denver burning its final timeout of the set. The Jaguars lead fluctuated between five and seven points down the stretch, but a Pioneers service error closed out a 25-19 second-set win for the Jags evening the match at one set apiece.
Out of the 10-minute break, Denver sprinted out to a 9-5 lead, but two kills from Fair, an ace from
Alexis Meeks, and a kill from Wachtel helped the Jags trim that deficit to one, 12-11. From that point, the Pioneers seized control capturing seven of the next eight points to open a 19-12 advantage. The Denver lead grew to 10 at 24-14, but the serving of Meeks led an IUPUI rally that allowed it to close with six, before Denver eventually pulled out the 25-18 win.
Serving errors put the Jaguars in an early hole in set four allowing the Pioneers to open a 12-8 lead while forcing the Jags to burn one of its two timeouts. Just when it seemed that Denver would take control, IUPUI managed to claw within one four times, but the first three times the Pioneers countered with two straight points to push their lead back to three each time. However, the Jags were finally able to tie the score at 20 and 21, but Denver pulled within two points of victory after winning the next two points – one of which was a lengthy rally where a Hickey cross-court attack barely went wide. With its back against the wall, IUPUI continued to fight and tallied the next three points to give itself set point at 24-23. The Jaguars had another opportunity at set point after a Walling kill put them up 25-24, but the Pioneers put together one final run and used a big block on a Fair attempt to cap a three-point spurt that gave them a 27-25 win.
The Jags return to action on Sunday, Sept. 29, when it heads to Vermillion, S.D., to square off against South Dakota at 2 p.m.
