INDIANAPOLIS – The home schedule for the IUPUI volleyball team starts on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m., when the Jaguars host Ball State at The Jungle.
Not only will Wednesday's match be the home opener for the Jaguars, but the first 100 students in attendance at Wednesday's match will receive an IUPUI t-shirt.
The Jags got off to a 1-2 start in the opening weekend of the season last week with both of its losses coming against ranked opponents in No. 15 Kentucky and No. 19 Michigan State. Ball State started a perfect 3-0, which was capped off by a five-set win over New Mexico.
"We always look forward to playing Ball State. Every time we play it is a back and forth battle," head coach Steve Payne said.
Wednesday's match against the Cardinals will be the first of four home matches this week for IUPUI. Sept. 4-5, the Jaguars welcome Charlotte, Eastern Michigan and West Virginia to The Jungle for the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational.
For the Cardinals, Wednesday's match will be their first true road match of the season after hosting their season-opening tournament last weekend. Following Wednesday's match with the Jags, Ball State will head down to Nashville, Tenn., for the Lipscomb Invitational.
Despite a 1-2 start to the season, IUPUI played well against some of the top teams in the country last week. Senior
Kaitlyn Hickey led the IUPUI offense with 5.10 kps, and hit at a .299 clip over the three-match stretch that resulted in her being named the Summit League Offensive Player of the Week. Defensively,
Abby Horn was a presence in the front court averaging 1.57 bps en route to being named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Week.
The Cardinals were led to their 3-0 start by Alex Fuelling, who averaged 3.64 kps and hit .325. Ball State dominated their competition in nearly every statistical category last weekend, but it did post 38 service errors and allowed 20 aces during the opening weekend.
Ball State has a commanding 14-2 edge in the all-time series, including a 5-1 lead when playing in Indianapolis. IUPUI's only home win over the Cardinals was back on Sept. 11, 2007, in three sets.
