WICHITA, Kan. – Heading into their second tournament of the season, the IUPUI volleyball team (2-2) will make the trek west to Wichita, Kansas for the Shocker Volleyball Classic, where they'll open action against Marquette (2-1) Friday (Sep. 2) at 5:30 p.m. EST. The Jags will follow that match with a pair of contests slated for Saturday (Sep. 3) against host Wichita State (1-1) at 2 p.m. EST and Cincinnati (2-1) at 6 p.m. EST.
The Jaguars are led on the season by
Kori Waelbroeck, who has a team-best 60 kills after putting on a 24-kill performance against Ball State.
Gabby Fisher has added 50 kills while
Logan Walling has posted a team-best .371 attack percentage with 42 kills. Walling has also added a team-high 20 blocks, including five solo, to lead the Jaguar defense.
Alexis Mapes has a Summit-League best 11.20 assists per set, compiling 168 total, while also adding eight block assists. First-year libero
Jessica Helms has a team-high 50 digs this season.
A daunting schedule from start to finish, all three of IUPUI's opponents were ranked in the top-100 in ratings percentage index (RPI) last season. Marquette, who finished 36th in RPI last year, recently competed in the USC Baden Invitational in Los Angeles, California, where they defeated UC Irvine and USC, before dropping the closing match to Santa Clara. The Golden Eagles went 22-12 a season ago and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Wichita State is the reigning conference champions in the Missouri Valley Conference, having gone 27-9 last year overall with a 15-3 mark in conference play. The Shockers finished that season ranked 30th in RPI, while also advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This season, Wichita State fell in straight sets to Iowa before upsetting the 18th ranked team in the nation, the Creighton Blue Jays, in five sets at the Iowa State Challenge. The match between the Jags and Shockers will air on ESPN 3. The link to the match can be found HERE.
The Jags will close out the weekend against Cincinnati, who finished 86th in RPI last season after compiling a 21-10 record overall. A member of the American Athletic Conference, the Bearcats lost their season opener to Tennessee in the DISH Tennessee Classic this past weekend, before going on to defeat Middle Tennessee State and Louisiana-Monroe with scores of 3-1 and 3-0, respectively.
For scores, updates, stats, news and more, follow IUPUIJags.com.
