ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Jags chances to host the 2017 Horizon League Championship came to an end in a loss to Oakland in a five-set thriller.

IUPUI (15-13, 11-4 Horizon) was 7-2 on the season in five-set matches heading in to tonight but it looked like that stat might not matter early on as Oakland (16-11, 11-4 Horizon) took the first two sets. The Jags battled back but fell just short in a match where no set was won by more than three points.

The Jags looked poised to make the comeback after taking an 8-4 lead after a kill by Maddie Dean and back-to-back kills by Haley Hoffman. Oakland responded after a timeout with four-straight points to tie the set and after a kill by Hoffman, scored four more points to take a 12-9 lead. Gabby Fisher and Kori Waelbroeck kills, plus another block tied the set for IUPUI but Oakland finished off the Jags with two-straight points.

The loss by the Jags plus a win by Cleveland State over Northern Kentucky tonight means the Jags are eliminated from hosting the Horizon League Championship as Cleveland State is now up one game in the standings and owns the tiebreaker. The Jags can still get a first-round bye and second-place finish if Oakland loses to UIC on Friday (Nov. 10) and IUPUI beats UIC on Nov. 11. With an Oakland win, the Jags will finish as the third seed. 

Waelbroeck led the way for the Jags, leading the team in both kills (20) and digs (18) on her way to another double-double. Hoffman finished with 14 kills, hitting .542, while Fisher had 11 kills and Dean had her third-straight match with double-figure kills finishing with ten.

The Jags finished with a better hitting percentage than Oakland (.283 to .236) and again out-blocked their opponent (9 to 2) but the Jags finished with 21 fewer kills (81 to 60) and 18 fewer digs (9 to 2).

On defense, IUPUI was led at the net by Abby Boatman who finished with five blocks, followed by Waelbroeck with four, Hoffman with three and Maggie Gibson and Fisher each had two. Jessica Helms was second on the squad with 15 digs and Gibson had 11 plus 50 assists for a double-double.

Oakland jumped out to an early lead scoring the three of the first four points and the Jags would be forced to play catch-up the rest of the set. Every time IUPUI would close the gap, Oakland found a way to stem the tide. After a kill by Waelbroeck made it 9-8, Oakland scored the next two points. The Golden Grizzlies would increase their lead to six at 17-11 after a Courtney Wightman kill but the Jags stayed strong.

The Jags got a couple of kills from Fisher and Waelbroeck, who both finished with four kills in the set, to pull within two at 22-20. IUPUI would get within two again at 23-21 after a Hoffman kill, but would not be able to complete a comeback falling in the first set 25-22 despite outhitting Oakland .323 to .234.

Set two was tight to start with IUPUI taking a 4-3 lead after a kill from Dean. Oakland then looked like it was going to take control winning the next four points but the Jags came back with a kill by Boatman and back-to-back blocks by Boatman and Waelbroeck then Boatman and Dean to tie the match at 10. Things would continue to go back-and-forth as the Jags looked to Dean for offense who had three-straight kills for the Jags.

The set would stay close with IUPUI taking the next two-point lead at 19-17 after a kill by Fisher and an Oakland error. A block by Boatman and Waelbroeck followed by a kill from Waelbroeck gave the Jags a 21-17 lead. After a timeout by Oakland the Golden Grizzlies turned the tables rolling off five-straight points to take a 22-21 lead.

Battling to keep the match alive, IUPUI fell behind early in set three and were once again forced to come from behind. After falling behind by three, IUPUI scored the next two points including an ace from Gibson. The Jags then pulled within one, only to have a service error to give the ball back to Oakland. After tying the set at 12 another service error kept the Jags from taking the lead.

At every turn it seemed that Oakland had an answer for IUPUI. Hoffman tied the set at 13 but Oakland responded with a kill. A block from Hoffman and Gibson tied it at 14 but another kill gave the Golden Grizzlies the 15-14 lead in to the media timeout. The Jags took their first lead of the third set after kills from Hoffman and Waelbroeck at 17-16, only to be tied up by another Oakland kill.

Back-to-back kills from Hoffman gave the Jags a 22-20 lead but again, Oakland responded scoring the next three points to take a 23-22 lead. The Jags got help with two error and a block by Gibson to take the set 25-24 and keep the match alive.

Set four began as a set of runs with Oakland using a 4-0 run to jump out to a 6-4 lead. IUPUI responded with a 4-0 run of its own and the teams traded points until a Boatman kill gave the Jags a 10-8 lead. After Oakland tied the set at 10 no one would have a two-point lead until Boatman and Fisher teamed up for a block to put IUPUI up 18-16.

The Jags would hold the lead until a kill attempt from Waelbroeck went long and tied the set, 21-21. With the score tied at 23, IUPUI got kills from Hoffman and Fisher to win set four 25-23 and force a deciding fifth.

IUPUI will finish up its regular season schedule with a match against UIC on Saturday, November 11 at 4 p.m. as the Jags will honor the seniors with Senior Night.