CHICAGO – IUPUI used a strong defensive effort to pull out a five-set victory over UIC on Saturday (Oct. 14) afternoon. With the win the Jags sit on top of the Horizon League standings with Oakland after the first-half of the regular season.
The Jags (10-11, 6-2 Horizon) set a season high with 16 blocks and the fourth-highest dig total of the season (87) while holding UIC to a .170 hitting percentage. Sophomore
Haley Hoffman led the Jaguar net presence with eight blocks and junior
Abby Boatman added seven.
IUPUI finished with five players with double-figure digs, led by junior
Elizabeth Scott with a career-high 19 digs.
Maggie Gibson posted 16 digs, senior
Kori Waelbroeck had 14 as well as a team-high 23 kills for a double-double,
Jessica Helms had 13 and
Rhiannon Schuenemann finished with 10.
Hoffman's 10 kills was second on the squad behind Waelbroeck's 23 and the offense was guided by Gibson's 47 assists, giving the junior a double-double, her 12
th on the season.
"It was a great win for us today and really put everything together when we needed to to pull out the win," said head coach Steve Payne. "Kori [Waelbroeck] and Haley [Hoffman] both had good offensive and defensive games. Now we have to step up for the second round of conference play as we know teams are gunning for us."
UIC (13-8, 4-4 Horizon) had four players with double-figure kills, led by Kyisha Hunt's 22. Manuela Conte (17), Alex Drosopoulou (14) and Ali Witt (10) rounded out the offense for the Flames. Nicole Johnson finished with a match-high 54 assists and Carla Salvato's 23 digs were also a match-high.
Set one began with IUPUI jumping out to an early lead, going on a 6-0 run after the score was tied at three. The Jags got a kill from Scott, two from Waelbroeck and one from
Gabby Fisher to complete the run.
After UIC closed the game to two, IUPUI scored the next four points, including a kill by Gibson and an ace from Fisher to extend the lead the Jags would never give up. IUPUI would hit .270 in the set and close out the Flames in the first set 25-16.
Set two saw UIC go on a run of its own to begin a frame. The Flames grabbed a 10-4 lead after a bed set by Gibson. The Jags would try to battle back, scoring three-straight from kills by Scott and Waelbroeck and a block by Hoffman and Fisher, to make the score 16-13 in favor of UIC.
After each team went on a 3-0 run, IUC got back-to-back kills from Kyisha Hunt to extend the lead and UIC would take set two 25-18 to tie the match at the break.
Following the break, set three was a back-and-forth affair for whole set. The teams hit at an almost equal clip, with IUPUI hitting .245 to UIC's .235. The teams traded leads throughout the set with no squad able to earn a three-point advantage until Scott's kill put the Jags up 21-18.
The Jags would earn set point after a Waelbroeck kill, but the Flames scored two-straight on a kill by Manuela Conte and an error from
Maddie Dean before Boatman ended the set and gave IUPUI a 25-23 set win.
Looking to close out the match in set four, the Jags came out and took an early lead, going up 9-5 after a kill from Boatman. Errors would hurt the Jags as the fourth set progressed as IUPUI hit .021 in the frame. Leading 19-17, IUPU allowed UIC to go on a 6-0 run aided by three Jaguar errors.
The Jags would tie up the set at 23 but UIC forced a deciding frame with kills from Drosopoulou and Hunt.
In the first five-set match in Horizon League play for the Jags, IUPUI used three UIC errors and a block from Waelbroeck and Hoffman to take a 5-1 lead. UIC pulled to within one after a 3-0 run and the score would stay close until a solo block from Dean put IUPUI up 12-9.
A kill from Dean would put the Jags up 13-10 but a service error from
Jessica Helms made it 13-11. IUPUI would then get a kill from Waelbroeck and another from Dean to close out the match and earn the five-set win.
IUPUI will continue Horizon League play on the road next weekend. The Jags will head to Wright State on Saturday, October 21 and will finish the trip against Northern Kentucky on Sunday, October 22.
