vs. Georgia Southern (Aug. 25 - 4:30 pm): Live Stats
vs. Florida International (Aug. 26 - 2:00 pm): Live Stats
at Florida Gulf Coast (Aug. 26 - 7:00 pm): Live Stats

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The IUPUI volleyball team will open the 2017 regular season in the Sunshine State, beginning this Friday (Aug. 25), as the Jaguars will compete in the two-day FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Invitational at Alico Arena. The Jaguars will face Georgia Southern on Friday (Aug. 25) before taking on Florida International and host Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday (Aug. 26). 

Head Coach Steve Payne's squad will rely heavily on seniors Gabby Fisher and Kori Waelbroeck offensively, as Waelbroeck put home a team-high 389 kills last season. Fisher was just off the pace at 354 kills and was named to the Summit League All-Tournament Team. 

Defensively, Jessica Helms had a team-high 414 digs last season while Fisher showed her versatility with 340 digs. Waelbroeck and junior Elizabeth Scott also chipped in, both averaging better than 2.0 digs per set. Fellow junior Abby Boatman will key the blocking efforts, having contributed 111 a season ago. 

Indianapolis-transfer Maggie Gibson and freshman Rebecca Schlechte will be tasked with manning the setter position, taking over for departed senior Alexis Mapes. Gibson closed last season as UIndy's primary setter and averaged 10.86 assists per set in her team's final six matches of the season. 

The Jaguars opened exhibition play with a 3-2 win at Eastern Illinois as Payne utilized his full array of players, experimenting with a number of combinations. 

"We're excited to get the season going and face some competition aside from what we've been doing in practice everyday," Payne said. "The girls have been working hard to get ready for the season and I think they're excited to get down to Florida and take the floor and get going. This is always a fun time of year as we start to evaluate what we have and move into our first year in the Horizon League."

Georgia Southern is coming off a 15-18 campaign a year ago and is led by senior outside Catherine Murray who had 2.31 kills and 2.48 digs per set. Florida International went 9-19 last season and is keyed by Taija Thomas, who 2.38 kills per set last year. Florida Gulf Coast is coached by former IUPUI assistant Matt Botsford and went 27-6 a season ago. The Eagles were 14-1 inside Alico Arena and return junior hitter Amanda Carroll, who had a team-high 485 kills last season. 

Live stats of all three matches will be available on IUPUIJags.com and full recaps and results will be posted online immediately afterwards.