SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Following an eventful first day of tournament action, the IUPUI volleyball team (4-7) returned to the hardwood for a pair of matches Saturday (Sep. 10), taking the first contest against McNeese State in a straight-set sweep (26-24, 25-19, 25-18) before dropping the nightcap against Missouri State in four sets (14-25, 23-25, 25-18, ##-25).  The 2-2 showing has been the best outcome for IUPUI in the early parts of the season, as the team continues to grow and improve with each match.
 
First-year libero Jessica Helms was named to the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational All-Tournament Team, as the back row standout had some of her best performances in the four matches on the weekend.  She finished with 71 digs, averaging 4.73 digs per set, and added 15 assists.  Kori Waelbroeck knocked 48 kills on the weekend, with 28 coming on Saturday alone.  She also added 17 block assists.  Logan Walling continued to climb the block leaderboard at IUPUI, tallying three solo blocks to put her in third-place all-time in program history.  She would add 10 block assists and 26 kills, with 14 coming Saturday.  Abby Boatman was stellar in day-two of the tournament action, logging 12 block assists, with seven coming against Missouri State.
 
Alexis Mapes remained busy on offense, distributing 123 assists through four contests while also adding 50 digs, seven kills and seven blocks.  Her Saturday performance included 68 assists, averaging 9.71 per set.  Gabby Fisher went off for 26 kills and 32 digs Saturday, bringing her weekend totals to 39 and 55, respectively. 
 
Match One
Despite some tense moments and a close opening frame, the Jaguars seemed to have found a groove in their Saturday matinee, following a marathon match the night before.  As a team, the Jags hit .211 while limiting the Cowgirls to just. 136.  The Jaguars had more kills (43 to 37), assists (42 to 35), aces (five to three), digs (72 to 66), and total blocks (eight to five) than McNeese State, as the Jags showed a heavy offensive hand throughout.
 
Fisher had a match-high 14 kills, adding 11 digs in a double-double effort.  Waelbroeck was a dig shy of a double-double, logging 12 kills and nine digs in the contest.  All-Tournament selection Helms had 24 digs, adding eight assists in the match. 
 
After their best offensive showing came in the second set, in which IUPUI hit .288 while logging 19 kills to just four errors, the numbers fell off in the final frame.  The Jaguar's offensive efficiency fell to just .188, but still thrived thanks in large part to the back row.  The Jaguar' defense limited the Cowgirls to just a .083 attack percentage, their lowest of the match, to earn a victory in the final frame and close out the match in straight-set fashion.
 
Match Two
It wasn't a poor offensive showing that plagued the Jags in their first set against Missouri State, as the team managed to hit a respectable .229 against the Bears.  Rather, it was the inability to slow down a throttling offensive effort by Missouri State, as the team dished out 21 kills while committing only three errors.  The Bears would finish with a .400 attack percentage while cruising in the first frame.
 
Despite leading by as many as seven points, the Jags couldn't hold off a fierce comeback from Missouri State in the second set.  Up 13-6, a 4-0 run by the Bears substantially cut into the deficit and seemed to reclaim the momentum.  Despite the Jags logging six blocks in the set alone, and managing to once again stretch their lead out to seven, the Bears still found a way back.  Up 17-10, a 7-3 Bears run knotted the game up at 20-20.  The deadlock would extend itself to 23-23, but Missouri State eventually took it on a pair of errors by Jags.
 
IUPUI enjoyed its best offensive-outing of the match in set number three, as the team combined to hit 18 kills on a .295 clip.  The team added two blocks and 23 digs in a well-fought frame, as they'd easily pull away from the Bears for a convincing 25-18 victory.
 
Despite their best efforts to ignite a comeback, the Jags came up just short in the fourth set.  Trailing by five points with the score at 14-9, IUPUI launched a 5-1 run, which included kills from Walling and Elizabeth Scott, in addition to a Jacquie Hornung kill, to tie the match at 15-15.  That was as close as they'd get, as from that point, Missouri State answered with two points from every point the Jags could muster.  The Bears would eventually close out the set and the match, 25-20. 
 
The Jaguars will return to action on Tuesday (Sep. 13) back in the safe confides of the Jungle, as they host Dayton (10-0) in a midweek contest before heading to Bloomington, Indiana for the Hoosier Invitational (Sep. 16-17). 
 
The match against Dayton will be available to watch for free online via Webstream.  Links will be provided leading up to the match.  The video coverage will be the first home match broadcast for IUPUI.
 
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