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OMAHA, Neb. – The IUPUI volleyball team withstood a late surge from Omaha and held on to win its Summit League opener, 3-2 (24-26, 25-18, 25-17, 13-25, 15-11), Friday evening at Sapp Fieldhouse.

The win upped the Jags to 7-9 overall and got them off to a 1-0 start in league play, while the Mavs fell to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Kaitlyn Hickey led the way offensively with 21 kills and Meredith Farkas added 16, but the Jags collectively struggled hitting a combined .118. That was in part to Omaha outblocking IUPUI, 13.0 to 3.0, but the Jaguars used a season-high 31 digs from Beth Howard to offset its blocking total.

Entering the night, the Jaguars were 0-2 on the season, including 0-1 on the road, in five-set matches, but they pulled through Friday thanks in part to their nine aces – four of which came from Farkas.

Four Jaguars errors early in the opening set helped the Mavs jump out to a 10-6 lead, and four more later in the set widened the Omaha advantage to 18-12. The next six points - three of which from IUPUI kills and three from UNO errors - went IUPUI's way and evened the score at 18 and from that point a back-and-forth affair ensued. Four ties followed before the Jaguars had their first and only set point opportunity at 24-23, but three consecutive IUPUI attack errors gave Omaha a 26-24 opening-set win.

Despite the tough first-set loss, three kills from Hickey aided an early Jag run in set two that saw them capture an 8-5 cushion. Following a Jags service error, seven of the next nine point fell IUPUI's way allowing it to build a 15-9 advantage. The margin grew to as many as seven points, but never dipped below three before the Jaguars eventually pulled out a 25-18 set-two win to even the match at one set apiece.

Out of the break, both teams jockeyed for the lead, but it was an IUPUI run midway through the third set that propelled them to the win. After a Omaha block closed it within one at 15-14, a kill from Ashley Hacker, a kill and two aces from Farkas plus a Mavs error opened up a 20-14 Jags lead. From that point, IUPUI cruised to a 25-17 third-set win.

With the momentum clearly on its side, IUPUI looked to close things out in the fourth set but Omaha had different thoughts. The Jags actually held a 10-8 lead in the fourth set, but the Mavericks started to click and reeled off 17 of the next 20 points to easily claim a 25-13 fourth-set win.

Even though Omaha clearly had regained the momentum, two kills from Hickey and a kill apiece from Gabby Fisher and Kelly Wachtel helped IUPUI sprint out to a 6-3 lead in the race to 15 points. The lead grew to six at 11-5, but that cushion evaporated quickly after UNO battled all the way back within a point at 12-11. The Jags, however, maintained their composure and used a kill from Farkas, a Mavericks attack error, and a Farkas ace to close out a 15-11 fifth-set victory.

IUPUI concludes its first weekend of conference play on Sunday, Sept. 28, when it heads to Fargo, N.D., to take on North Dakota State, the match is set to begin at 2 p.m. ET.