ROCHESTER, Mich. – IUPUI volleyball earned its first Horizon League win of the season with a 3-1 win over Oakland on Friday night (Sept. 28).
The Jags (4-13, 1-2 Horizon) had two players finish with double-digit kills and dominated on defense with a season-high 12 blocks as a team.
Abby Boatman led the Jaguars with 13 kills and hit .414.
Maddie Dean added 12 kills and
Maggie Gibson returned with nine kills.
Gibson led the way for IUPUI's net defense with seven blocks, followed by Boatman and
Haley Hoffman who each had six. The Jags held Oakland (5-9, 1-2 Horizon) to a .054 hitting percentage thanks to 83 digs as well as 38 errors by the Golden Grizzlies. Five different Jaguars finished with double-digit digs, led by sophomore
Rebecca Schlechte, who posted a career-high 19 digs to go along with 39 assists, Schlechte's second-highest total of the year.
Elizabeth Scott was second on the squad with 17 digs to go along with seven kills, followed by
Rachel Hickey (15),
Rhiannon Schuenemann (14) and Gibson (13).
While the Jaguars' offense only hit .175 for the night, IUPUI did not give away many points, only committing 19 errors, the lowest total in a match since committing 11 errors in a three-set win over SIUE on September 1.
IUPUI's offense dominated in the first set with the Jags hitting .391 with 11 kills and just two errors. The Jags finished the set with four blocks and kept Oakland at just a .091 hitting clip. The first set was close with IUPUI taking a 20-18 lead after a kill by Gibson and going up three after a block from Gibson and Hoffman. IUPUI took its largest lead of the set with three-straight points coming from a kill by Scott, ace by Schuenemann and kill by Boatman to go up 24-18. The Jags ended the set with a block by the duo of Boatman and Gibson.
The second set was another close battle with neither team leading by more than three for the whole frame. Late in the set, the Jags took a 23-22 lead after a kill by Gibson but back to back Oakland kills gave the Golden Grizzlies set point. After a timeout, a kill by Boatman fought off the set point and Gibson's service ace gave the Jags their first set point. Oakland picked up a kill on the next point but the Jags responded with a kill by Boatman and ended the set with a block by Boatman and Schlechte.
After Oakland took the third set, IUPUI jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth set. Later in the set, IUPUI took control of the set with a 4-0 run featuring kills by Dean and Gibson bookending two Oakland errors. Another 4-0 run later in the set put the Jags up 21-12 and IUPUI finished off the match with a kill by Schlechte and two from Dean.
The Jaguars stay on the road and head to Youngstown State for a meeting with the Penguins on Saturday (Sept. 29) at 4 p.m. The match against Youngstown State will be streamed on ESPN+.
