LEXINGTON, Ky. – The three-time defending Summit League regular-season champion IUPUI Jaguars begin their journey towards a fourth straight league crown on Friday, Aug. 28, when the Jags start their 2015 season by traveling to Lexington, Ky., for the Bluegrass Battle hosted by the University of Kentucky.
 
The Jags will face stiff competition in the opening weekend of the season as they square off against three NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago in Little Rock, Kentucky and Michigan State. IUPUI opens tournament action at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 28, against Little Rock, who is receiving votes in the AVCA Preseason Poll, before taking on No. 15 Kentucky and No. 19 Michigan State at 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, Aug. 29.
 
IUPUI's Saturday morning match against the Wildcats will be streamed live on WatchESPN.
 
"We have a big challenge this weekend against three good teams," head coach Steve Payne said. "We need to be ready to go right away and we will get an early look at where we stand against some of the best teams in the country."
 
Little Rock is coming off a school-record 30 wins in 2014 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time with a win over No. 16 Kansas. The Trojans finished the season ranked 24th nationally and welcome back six letterwinners from last season's record-breaking team.
 
Tournament host Kentucky has become a perennial contender under head coach Craig Skinner as the Wildcats have made 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. UK was picked to finish third in the Southeastern Conference this season, and it is led by Muncie, Ind.-native Morgan Bergren, who was tabbed a Preseason All-SEC performer after earning All-SEC honors as a junior.
 
The Spartans return 12 players from its 2014 team including three All-Americans in Chloe Reinig, Rachel Minarick and Autumn Bailey. Over the past three seasons, Michigan State has started the season off strong winning seven of their last nine non-conference tournaments.
 
IUPUI, who reached 20 wins for the second time in the last three years a season ago, welcomes back 11 players from last year's roster, including four seniors in Kaitlyn Hickey, Kelly Wachtel, Skylar Wright and Courtney Halter. Hickey and Wachtel were the Jaguars top two offensive weapons last season en route to earning All-Summit League honors, while Hickey also earned AVCA Honorable-Mention All-America honors.
 
In addition to Hickey and Wachtel, the Jags return three other starters from last year's team in Logan Walling, Alexis Mapes and Gabby Fisher. Walling has been IUPUI's top blocker in each of her first two seasons with the program, and her offensive production jumped from 1.12 kps her freshman season to 1.73 kps as a sophomore. Mapes gained valuable experience last year in her first season as the team's primary setter and averaged 8.01 aps while leading the team to a .215 hitting percentage. Fisher was one of Mapes' offensive weapons and the Martinsville, Ind.-native averaged 1.06 kps and 0.68 bps en route to earning Summit League All-Freshmen Team honors.
 
General admission single-match tickets for the weekend are $5 for adults, $2 for seniors (65+) and youth (6-18). Children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge in general admission seating.