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INDIANAPOLIS – Alexis Mapes dished out 44 assists and led the IUPUI volleyball team to a .356 team hitting percentage as it picked up a 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-12) win over Omaha Friday evening at The Jungle.
 
Kaitlyn Hickey led the way with 12 kills, and both Kelly Wachtel and Meredith Farkas added 10 apiece with Wachtel hitting at an impressive .360 clip. However, Gabby Fisher notched a .750 hitting percentage putting down six kills in eight attempts without an error. The win was the eighth straight win for the Jags as they improved to 16-11 overall and 10-2 in the league.
 
Defensively, Beth Howard posted a match-high 16 digs helping IUPUI out-dig Omaha 49-42, offsetting a six to one edge for the Mavericks in blocking.
 
"Omaha played pretty good defense and blocked us quite a bit there in those first few sets," head coach Steve Payne said. "In that third set we served the ball a little bit tougher – I think we had three aces – and our offense really clicked with only one hit error. We just kind of took control of the match and that's the way we like to play."
 
The first set went back-and-forth up to the midway point until a Wachtel ace, a pair of Hickey kills, and an Omaha attack error put the Jags in front, 21-17. Four side outs were exchanged before Wachtel's third kill of the set pushed the cushion to four, 23-19, forcing the Mavs to use their final timeout. A bad set from Omaha and a kill from Fisher offset a Jags service error resulting in a 25-20 opening-set win.
 
It was déjà vu in the second set with the teams jockeying for the lead until a pair of Hickey kills place IUPUI in front, 19-17. The lead remained at two, 21-19, before consecutive Mavericks miscues upped the IUPUI lead to 23-19, forcing Omaha to use its second timeout.  From there, kills from Logan Walling and Farkas finished off a 25-20 second-set win.
 
Out of the intermission, IUPUI seized the first four points and it was even able to extend the lead to five at 12-7 thanks to kills from Walling and Fisher. A block from Fisher and Hickey and an ace from Mapes upped the lead to 14-7, before kills from Wachtel off transition catapulted IUPUI to a 17-8 lead. From that point, the outcome was never in doubt as the Jags went on to take the third set, 25-12.
 
Up next for the Jaguars is a Saturday showdown with North Dakota State on Nov. 8. NDSU. The Bison have won five straight entering Friday night's match at Omaha. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.