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Photo GalleryINDIANAPOLIS –
Kaitlyn Hickey led the way with 18 kills, and
Kelly Wachtel and
Logan Walling added 12 and 11, respectively, leading the IUPUI volleyball team to a 3-0 win over South Dakota State Friday evening at The Jungle.
The Jags were coming off a pair of disappointing five-set losses to South Dakota and Oral Roberts after holding 2-1 leads in both matches. IUPUI again got out to an early lead on Friday against SDSU winning the first two sets, but the Jackrabbits held set point in the third set before a late IUPUI run finished off the sweep.
"We were working on [finishing out sets] in practice and we wanted to make sure that those last five points we work hard at it whether you're down two or three," head coach
Steve Payne said. "The girls really showed some good determination there to be down, come back and tie it up and eventually win it."
IUPUI collectively hit .273 and registered 13 more kills than SDSU thanks in part to
Alexis Mapes finding the open attacker. Mapes tied a season-high with 42 assists and added a career-high 17 digs in the win.
In the opening set, Mapes got Walling going offensively as she scored three of the Jags first four points on kills. With the defense closing on Walling,
Meredith Farkas got some good opportunities and two kills from her opened a 12-7 cushion. The lead grew to seven multiple times, with the last at 21-14, before a five-point SDSU run brought it within two, 21-19. A timely service error from the Jackrabbits ended the spurt, and two kills from Hickey and a kill from Walling down the stretch closed out a 25-20 opening-set win.
In the second set, the Jags continued to go to Hickey and the junior continued to deliver. After a four-point run featuring two Jackrabbits errors and a solo block and a kill from Walling put the Jags in front 12-6, South Dakota State was able to cut that deficit in half at 14-11. Hickey then scored four of the next five points on kills to help move the advantage back to six, 19-13, before consecutive Wachtel kills upped the advantage to 21-14. That seven-point lead held as IUPUI took the second set, 25-18.
Both teams went on lengthy rallies early in set three, but it was South Dakota State that found its rhythm offensively and held the lead at the midway point. The SDSU lead grew to 23-20 only to have the Jags tie things up at 23 following a Jackrabbits attack error and kills by Walling and Hickey. SDSU had a set point following a Kacey Herrmann kill, but a Herrmann error on the next point evened things back up at 24. Two more side outs ensued before a kill from Hickey and a block from
Gabby Fisher and Wachtel clinched the 27-25 come-from-behind win.
The Jaguars return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 14, when they hit the road to take on in-state and league rival Fort Wayne. The match is set to start at 7 p.m.
