INDIANAPOLIS – The road to a Summit League championship begins this weekend for the IUPUI volleyball team when it opens Summit League play on Saturday, Sept. 26, against Denver at 7 p.m.
Denver, the Summit League preseason favorite after claiming the conference tournament title over IUPUI last season, begins league action Friday evening at Fort Wayne before making its way to Indianapolis to take on the Jags Saturday evening.
"This weekend starts the second part of your season, which is the one that means the most in trying and win another conference title," head coach
Steve Payne said.
Through the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Pioneers have accumulated a 12-3 record and enter the weekend with a five-match winning streak. The Pioneers boast the highest hitting percentage in the league at .254 – thanks in part to Sarah Schmid's league leading .433 clip – while also leading the conference in aces (73) and blocks per set (2.76).
The Pioneers currently don't have a player that ranks inside the Top 10 in the league in kills, but that doesn't mean they lack offensive firepower. Denver boasts a balanced offensive attack that features seven players averaging more than 1.30 kps. Leading that group is sophomore Kayla Principato and her 2.68 kps, and collectively Denver's 13.00 kps rank second in the league.
While Denver leads the conference in blocking, it will go up against a Jaguars offense that leads the league in kills at 13.86 kps. IUPUI is led by
Kaitlyn Hickey's 4.25 kps, which ranks second in the league, but the Jaguars also have a pair of hitters ranking in the Top 10 in the conference in hitting percentage in
Logan Walling (6
th, .321) and
Kori Waelbroeck (9
th, .285).
Defensively for the Jaguars,
Courtney Halter has stepped up her play in recent weeks and after averaging 5.25 dps last week, Halter not only moved into the top spot in the league statistics in digs but she was named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career.
Halter wasn't the only Jaguar to receive a conference honor this week as Hickey was named the Summit League Offensive Player of the Week following a pair of 20-plus kill efforts in wins over Albany and Wichita State. Last week, Hickey accumulated 64 kills inching her within striking distance of becoming IUPUI's all-time kills leader. Hickey needs just 20 kills to surpass Sara Sparks' school record of 1,447 kills.
The all-time series between IUPUI and Denver is tied at 3-3, with Denver winning the last two meetings. All three Jaguars victories in the series have come on their home floor.
