INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI volleyball team rallied from a two-set deficit to stun Ball State inside the Jungle on Tuesday night (Sept. 5), 3-2 (18-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-8). The win snapped Ball State's five-game winning streak and the Jaguars' five-game losing skid. 

Senior Gabby Fisher led the way 20 kills while hitting .402 and classmate Kori Waelbroeck deposited 13 kills at a .147 clip. The Jaguars upped their hitting percentage in each of the five sets, closing the night at .191 as a team. 

"I think our effort in sets three, four and five was great," IUPUI Head Coach Steve Payne said. "That's the team I want to see and that's a team that I think can do really well in the conference. Down 0-2 against Ball State, our girls just turned everything around, made some adjustments and pulled that one out in five. It just shows that we can compete with goods teams."

Ball State (5-2) started well, but powered down to finish at a .189 percentage. 

Down two sets, IUPUI (3-5) fell behind 3-0 in the third, but responded to surge to an 11-6 advantage. Fisher and Waelbroeck powered the run with their service game with each recording an ace at the line. Things tightened up before the Jags got separation late in the set. Jessica Helms and Waelbroeck both served well to help keep the BSU attack off balanced. Fisher appropriately ended the set with an ace after registering kills for points 22 and 23. 

In the fourth, the Jags blasted out to an 8-3 advantage, thanks again to strong service. Ball State repeatedly closed within two, but never got completely over the hump. BSU's Brooklyn Goodsel made it 20-18 with a kill, but IUPUI responded with four straight points and eventually closed it out with an Abby Boatman kill. 

Like the fourth, the fifth began with Ball State taking a quick lead before IUPUI took control. The Jags scored four points with Waelbroeck at the service line and later puffed the lead out to 10-5 when Fisher put home another kill. Ball State crept within three at 11-8, but Fisher put down her 20th kill to give the Jags a side out. From there, a bad Ball State set and two Maggie Gibson aces ended it. 

The Jags closed the match with nine aces with Fisher and Waelbroeck collecting three each. As a team, IUPUI had just five service errors while benefiting from 11 Ball State miscues. 

"We served the ball tougher, put them out of their offense and that made our defense go to work," Payne said. "Maggie was setting the ball great tonight and of course, Gabby Fisher came through with one of her best efforts of the season."

Gibson closed with 43 assists while Helms had a team-high 13 digs. Freshman Maddie Dean closed with nine kills after a rocky opening set. 

After falling in a seven-point hole in the first set, the Jaguars crept back in contention, scoring five straight with Waelbroeck at the service line. The second point came via a friendly ace as Waelbroeck's serve hit the tape and spun just over the net. Moments later, Fisher hammered home a kill to pull the Jags within two. Ball State answered with an Ellie Dunn kill and never looked back en route to a 25-18 victory. IUPUI had more attack errors (8) than kills (7) in the opening set, thanks in part to BSU's strong blocking and 15 digs. 

IUPUI had a very early lead in the second stanza behind a pair of Dean kills, but Ball State fired back with six straight points as Payne tried to squash the visitor's momentum with a timeout. However, Ball State was not to be denied, pushing the lead as high as nine at 15-6. That said, Payne's troops loaded up for a final run, turning a laugher into a nail biter. Back-to-back Fisher kills made it 21-17, prompting a Ball State timeout. IUPUI eventually pulled even at 23 all, fueled by a Waelbroeck, Haley Hoffman block that stonewalled a Goodsel attack attempt. However, BSU got a kill from Sydnee Vanbeek and closed out the second set when the Jaguars mishandled the ensuing serve. 

The win was IUPUI's third straight against Ball State dating back to the 2015 season and the Jags improved to 2-1 in five-set matches this season. 

Ball State got 15 kills from Meg Starling and 14 from Goodsel. Kate Avila had a game-high 18 digs for the Cards in the loss. 

IUPUI will return to action this weekend when it participates in the Chippewa Invitational in Mount Pleasant, Mich. The Jaguars will face Indiana State on Friday (Sept. 8) before playing host Central Michigan on Saturday (Sept. 9). Live video and stats from both matches will be available on IUPUIJags.com.