FARGO, N.D. – IUPUI was swept by North Dakota State Sunday afternoon. The loss is the second straight 3-0 loss for the Jags after falling to Denver, Friday, Nov. 6.
The Jags (19-9, 10-4 Summit) defense allowed the Bison to hit .317 and three North Dakota State players finished in double-digit kills. IUPUI hit at a .231 clip and NDSU (17-11, 8-6 Summit) finished with 21 more digs (49-28) than the Jags.
The Jags did not have a player finish with double-figure kills, sophomore
Kori Waelbroeck lead the Jags with nine kills on the afternoon. Defensively senior
Courtney Halter led the Jags with 10 digs.
The back-to-back losses are the first time the Jags have lost two straight matches since the second and third matches of the season (0-3 at Kentucky, 0-3 vs. Michigan State).
IUPUI fell behind early in the first set 9-5 but the Jags would keep the first set close getting within two of the Bison on multiple occasions. After falling down 20-13 IUPUI battled back within four at 24-20. The Jags fought off three set points to make it 24-23 but a kill from NDSU's Jenni Fassbender, who finished with ten, gave the Bison the first set 25-23.
The Jags came out strong in the set number two, looking to even the score in the match, taking an 8-4 lead after back-to-back aces by senior
Kaitlyn Hickey. NDSU took four of the next five to make it 9-8 but the Jags maintained their lead at 15-11. From there the Bison took over. NDSU went on an 12-2 run to jump ahead 23-17. The Jags would win three of the next four points but would fall in set two 25-20.
The third set saw back and forth action before IUPUI jumped out to a 12-9 lead thanks to a
Logan Walling kill and ace. Once again IUPUI could not capitalize on a lead and let the Bison back in the set as NDSU tied the set at 15. The two teams would trade runs until the score was tied at 20. At that point, NDSU's offense produce an ace and three straight kills to take a 24-20 lead and won the third set 25-21.
With the loss the Jags are now in the third place in the Summit League, one game in the loss column behind second place Omaha, which has a 10-3 conference record. IUPUI heads back to the Jungle for its final two matches of the regular season next weekend. The Jags will take on South Dakota on Friday, Nov. 13 and Omaha the next night, Nov. 14. Both of those matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m..
