Game Notes

at Oakland (6 p.m.) - Live Stats

ROCHESTER, Mich. – In as close to a must-win game as you can get, the IUPUI volleyball team travels to Oakland with the hope of hosting the 2017 Horizon League volleyball championship still intact.

Head coach Steve Payne's squad comes in to the midweek battle tied with Cleveland State at the top of the standings. With the Vikings owning the tie breaker over the Jags, a loss would put the hopes of hosting on thin ice for IUPUI.

The Jags did what they needed to do last weekend, sweeping a road trip through Wisconsin with a five-set win over Green Bay on Friday (Nov. 3) before beating Milwaukee on Saturday (Nov. 4). The Jags got a big weekend from freshman Maddie Dean who had her best two-game stretch of the season posting 10 kills at Green Bay before tying her career-high with 11 kills at Milwaukee.

The game Milwaukee was one of the best all-around performances for the Jags this season. The offense finished with the second-best hitting percentage of the year (.304), as the defense finished with the second-most blocks (15) of the season. Gabby Fisher had one of her best matches of the season against the Panthers, finishing with 13 kills and hitting .480, the highest percentage of any Jaguar this season with at least 12 kills.

Offensively the Jags are still led by senior #Kori Waelbroeck who finished with 20 kills against Green Bay, the eighth time this season that Waelbroeck has hit the 20-kill plateau. The senior leads the team with 3.79 kills per set and is hitting .248 on the season. Her kill average is second in the Horizon League. After Waelbroeck, Fisher is the only other Jag with more than 2.00 kills per set (2.38).

Five other Jags have more than 1.00 kill per set as the offense has become more well-balanced as the season has gone on. Dean is third on the team with 1.85 kill/set, followed by Abby Boatman (1.54), Haley Hoffman (1.45), Elizabeth Scott (1.20) and McKayla Wright (1.05).

The offense has been guided by versatile junior Maggie Gibson who is averaging 9.91 assists per set and is second on the team with 3.11 digs per set while also averaging 0.70 blocks per set and 0.61 kills per set. 

On the defensive end, the Jags are the second best team in the Horizon League in digs per set 17.14 and blocks per set 2.45. On the back line, the Jags are led by senior Jessica Helms who is averaging 4.34 digs on the year At the net, IUPUI is led by Boatman who is second in the league with 1.16 blocks/set and Hoffman who is sixth in the league at 1.08. Both players have increased their performance in conference play as Hoffman is averaging 1.27 per set and Boatman, 1.23. Waelbroeck is also in the top ten in blocks per set in Horizon League play with 1.11 per set.

SCOUTING OAKLAND: The Golden Grizzlies come in to the match having won four-of-their-last-five matches with a loss to Cleveland State in five sets the only blemish during that time. The last time Oakland played was a 3-2 win at Youngstown State to end a four-game road trip.  Oakland is the second best hitting team in the Horizon League with a .232 hitting percentage led by Jamie Walling's .295 average. At the net, Oakland is the best team in the league with 2.83 blocks per set. The big duo for the Golden Grizzlies is conference-leader Krysteena Davis (1.47 blocks/set) and Sammy Condon (1.10 blocks/set.

LAST MEETING: The first meeting of the season between IUPUI and OAKLAND did not go well for the Jags. It was the only three-set loss in the conference season for IUPUI and the Jags were manhandled by Oakland, only hitting .125 and finishing with a total of 29 kills, the second fewest the Jags have had this season. The lone bright spot for the Jags in the match was their net defense that finished the match out-blocking Oakland 9-5, the only time Oakland has been out-blocked this season in conference play.

UP NEXT: After the trip to Oakland, the Jags will return home for its final regular-season game of the season and Senior Day against UIC. The match against UIC is on Saturday, November 11 with a scheduled start time of 4 P.M.