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INDIANAPOLIS – In a match that featured teams with the two longest current winning streaks in the Summit League, it was the IUPUI volleyball team that prevailed to extend its winning streak to nine matches with a 3-0 win over North Dakota State Saturday evening on Senior Night.
 
Prior to the start of the match, IUPUI's three seniors - Beth Howard, Meredith Farkas and Caitlin Farus - were all honored for their contributions to the program, and they were rewarded with a win upping the Jaguars overall record to 17-11 and their league mark to 11-2. NDSU fell to 13-15 overall and 7-7 in the conference.
 
Howard led the way defensively with a match-high 19 digs, helping the Jaguars put up 52 digs compared to just 45 for the Bison. Offensively, Kelly Wachtel put away a match-high 12 kills and hit .440 to pace the offensive attack.
 
"I was proud of the girls for the way they came out tonight. Those first two sets we really controlled the ball and our transition was great – our defense was digging up everything and then transitioning to a quick set and quick attack and Alexis (Mapes) was putting the ball right there," head coach Steve Payne said. "Things were just going the way we wanted them to go those first two sets."
 
Nine of the Jaguars first 14 points came off kills, seven of which coming from Wachtel and Kaitlyn Hickey, leading the Jaguars to a 14-8 lead out of the gates in the opening set. Following a side out, IUPUI embarked on a five-point run to push its lead to double digits, 19-9. That 10-point margin held as the Jaguars took set one 25-15.  Wachtel got off to a great start in set one putting down seven kills in nine attempts for a .778 hitting percentage.
 
Set two was more of the same with Wachtel registering two kills and an ace, and Alexis Mapes adding two kills of her own to lead IUPUI to a 9-3 lead forcing NDSU to use a timeout. The rest of the way, the Jaguars used four three-point runs to double up the Bison at 24-12, and two points later Hickey finished off the set with a kill to complete a 25-13 second-set win.
 
With the Jags in control, North Dakota State came out and played the style of volleyball that was more indicative of the way it had played during its six-game win streak. The Bison sprinted out to a 17-13 lead forcing a Jags timeout, but the Jaguars rallied quickly to knot the score at 18-18. The Bison continued to hold on to the lead and held set point at 24-23, but a NDSU attack error kept IUPUI alive. The Jags responded by having three set points of their own and the third one was the charm when Hickey rejected a Brianna Rasmussen attack to secure the 28-26 third-set win.
 
IUPUI closes out its three-game homestand on Tuesday, Nov. 11, when it welcomes Western Illinois to The Jungle for its final regular-season home match of the season. The match begins at 7 p.m.