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TULSA, Okla. – For the second consecutive match, the IUPUI volleyball team was on the wrong side of a fifth-set decision dropping a 3-2 (25-15, 20-25, 25-19, 23-25, 13-15) match to Oral Roberts Sunday afternoon at the Mabee Center.
IUPUI hit .243 for the match bettering Oral Roberts .209 hitting percentage, but the Golden Eagles hit .389 over the final two sets propelling them to the come-from-behind win.
Kelly Wachtel led the way for IUPUI with 18 kills and hit .429, and
Kaitlyn Hickey added 17 kills and 16 digs. Hickey's 17 kills pushed her above 1,000 for her career making her the 11th player in program history to eclipse the career milestone. Hickey also surpassed 1,000 career digs earlier this season, and she is now the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
IUPUI took the early lead behind a lengthy run in the opening set. Leading 9-8 in set one, the Jaguars won 10 of the next 11 points behind the serving of
Gabby Fisher to take a comfortable 19-9 lead. During the run, IUPUI picked up two kills apiece from Fisher and
Meredith Farkas and three total blocks. From that point, the 10-point lead stayed intact and IUPUI won the opening set, 25-15.
Oral Roberts used a four-point run midway through the second set that pushed a one-point lead into a five-point lead. That run proved to be the difference as ORU claimed a 25-20 second-set win, but the Jags bounced back in set three.
Similar to set two, the third set went back-and-forth and was tied as late as 15-15 before three ORU errors and block from Farkas and
Logan Walling placed the Jaguars in front, 19-15. With its four-point lead still in place, 23-19, two Wachtel kill closed out a 25-19 third-set win to put the Jags in front, 2-1.
The Golden Eagles seized a five-point lead early in set four only to have the Jaguars rally all the way back to take a lead as late as 23-22. Unfortunately, two Laura Milos kills sandwiched around an IUPUI error gave Oral Roberts a 25-23 fourth-set win to force a fifth and final set.
Kills by four different players helped IUPUI take an 8-6 lead as both teams switched sides, but ORU rallied to knot the score at 12-12. The Golden Eagles had multiple set points after winning the next two points to go in front, 14-12, but a Wachtel kill spoiled one of those match-clinching opportunities. However, a Shelby Cox kill finished off a 15-13 fifth-set win.
Defensively,
Beth Howard led the way with 23 digs, and Wachtel had five block assists.
The Jags are back in action at home on Friday, Oct. 10, when they host South Dakota State at The Jungle at 7 p.m.