vs. Oakland (Oct. 11 - 6:00 pm): Live Stats | ESPN3
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI volleyball team finishes up a three-game homestand with a midweek matchup against Oakland on Wednesday (Oct. 11) at 6 p.m. in the Jungle. The Jags currently sit in first place in the Horizon League with a 5-1 record and have won three-straight matches.
 
Head coach Steve Payne's squad won three games in a row for the first time this season since the first three matches of the year. The Jags have won five of their last six matches and have only dropped one set during their current three-match winning streak.  

IUPUI's offense is headlined by senior Kori Waelbroeck's 3.80 kills/set but the Jags have become much more balanced as the season has gone on. Fellow senior Gabby Fisher led the team in kills against Green Bay and is second on the team with 2.53 kills/set. The emergence of sophomore Haley Hoffman has also helped IUPUI as Hoffman set a career-high with ten kills against Milwaukee and matched that effort against Green Bay. Hoffman also boasts the highest hitting percentage on the team at .285.
 
Junior Maggie Gibson continues to be a dual-threat for the Jags leading the team with 10.12 assists/set and is second on the team with 3.00 digs/set. Senior Jessica Helms is the top digger on the squad with 4.57 digs/set.
 
Defense at the net has improved for the Jags in conference play. IUPUI has seen an uptick in blocks/set now averaging 2.70, second in the Horizon League. This is due to the fact that IUPUI has three of the top four blockers in the conference. Hoffman is second in conference play with 1.22 while Waelbroeck and Abby Boatman are tied for third with 1.17 blocks/set. Boatman is the current leader on the team averaging 1.11 blocks/set on the season.

GIBSON EARNS WEEKLY HONOR
For the third-straight week IUPUI had a player take home a weekly honor from the Horizon League. This week, Gibson earned Offensive Player of the Week after guiding the well-balanced attack for the Jags against Milwaukee and Green Bay. She finished with week with 81 assists, an average of 11.57 per set. She also hit .538 with eight kills and only one error and posted double-doubles in both matching, reaching 10 kills each time.
 
WAELBROECK NAMED SENIOR CLASS NOMINEE
Waelbroeck was named one of 30 senior volleyball student-athletes to be nominated for the Senior CLASS Award. The award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas; community, classroom, character and competition. The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. 

SCOUTING OAKLAND: Oakland (9-9, 4-2 Horizon) comes in to Wednesday's match riding a four-game winning streak, but all four wins have come at home with Oakland losing its only two conference road matches this season. The Golden Grizzlies sit second in conference play in hitting percentage at a .245 clip but it's the defense that has shined. Oakland is tops in the conference with 3.09 blocks/set and second in digs/set with 17.45, each one spot above IUPUI. The offense is lead by Darien Bandel, whose conference leading 5.09 kills/set is more than a kill per set higher than second place. On the defensive side of the ball, Krysteena Davis leads the conference with 1.82 blocks/set in conference play.

INSIDE THE SERIES-
    vs. Oakland: IUPUI has more history against Oakland than any Horizon League team as the Golden Grizzlies were members of the Summit League until 2012. The Jags are 15-8 all-time against Oakland but have not played since 2012 when the two teams split the conference season series. The last meeting with Oakland was a 3-1 home win for IUPUI and the Jags have won five-of-the-last-six matches at home in the series.

UP NEXT: IUPUI hits the road for one match over the weekend as the Jags travel to Chicago to take on UIC Saturday (Oct. 14) at 5 p.m. That match will be shown on ESPN3.