DENVER - After taking a 2-0 set lead, IUPUI lost the next three to fall to Omaha 3-2 in the Summit League semifinals. The Jags offense struggled only hit .184 while allowing the Mavs to hit .274 in the loss.

The Jags beat Omaha in the first two meetings of the year but the third time was the charm for the Mavericks who shut down the Jags offense in the last three sets. IUPUI hit .200 and .341 in the first two sets but hit .122, .081, and .143 in the last three sets. Omaha hit .484 and .450 in the last two sets while only committing two errors. 

"I thought the momentum was going our way in the first two sets," said head coach Steve Payne. "We had a game plan, stuck to it and it worked really well. Then Omaha got the upper hand. Their defense picked up, their serving picked up, and they started being more aggressive than us."

Omaha, one of the best defenses in the Summit League, finished with 14 more blocks and two more kills than IUPUI in the match. 

Sophomore Kori Waelbroeck led the Jags with 14 kills and senior Kaitlyn Hickey added 13. Junior Logan Walling was the only other Jag in double figures with 11. 

Omaha used a balanced attack with five players in double figures, led by Amy Taylor and Michaela Schimmer who both had 16. 

The first set was a set of runs for both teams. Omaha jumped out early to a 9-5 lead but IUPUI fought back to tie the set at 10. From there the Jags used a run of their own to take a 17-11 lead. With the Jags leading 21-16 the Mavericks rattled off six straight points to go up 22-21. After that, kills by Logan Walling and an error by Omaha gave the Jags set point and another Omaha error gave IUPUI the first set win 25-23.
 
Set two saw more back-and-forth action early but the Jags used a 5-0 run to take a 12-8 lead that featured kills by senior Kelly Wachtel and Hickey. From there the Jags would take extend the lead to seven after a kill by Waelbroeck. The Jags looked in control up 24-21 but the Mavs scored two straight before a kill by Hickey gave the Jags the set.
 
The Jags were looking for the sweep in set three but fell behind 10-7. Omaha extended the lead to 15-10 but IUPUI climbed back in to the set getting within one a 16-15 but the Mavs won four straight points to take a 20-15 lead and took set three 25-20.
 
Omaha dominated set four jumping out to a 5-2 lead and not letting up as the Mavs would hit .484 in the set and not commit an error. IUPUI hit .081 in the set with eight errors as Omaha tied up the match at two with a 25-12 set win.

The momentum stayed with the Mavericks in set five after back-and-forth action saw Omaha take a 6-4 lead. After that, the Mavs won five straight points to take an 11-4 lead. Omaha earned match point at 14-6 but IUPUI tried to fight back winning three straight points before Omaha ended the match 15-9. 

"[Omaha] came out and beat us tonight but we played really hard," Payne said. "We never gave up."