INDIANAPOLIS – IUPUI volleyball forced a fifth set after going down 2-1 but could not come out victorious, dropping a five-set match to UIC on Friday (Nov. 1). Three Jaguars finished with double-figure kills for IUPUI.
IUPUI (6-18, 2-9 Horizon) was led by 15 kills from
McKayla Wright, who hit .211 in the match.
Kaitlyn Johnson notched a career-high 13 kills and
Allie Pogue finished with 11.
Rebecca Schlechte paced the offense with 45 assists, two shy of her season-high.
The deciding set did not start off well for the Jags as UIC (19-6, 8-3) jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead. After a kill by Pogue, the Flames ripped off five more points before
Haley Hoffman ended the run with a kill. Down 11-4 IUPUI gave up three more points to give UIC match point but the Jags earned two points with a block by Hoffman and an error. The comeback attempt would end on the next point with a kill by UIC to end the match.
The Jags outhit the Flames .169 to .168 but hit -.105 in the final set while UIC hit .353.
On defense, IUPUI finished the match with 71 digs as five different IUPUI players reached double-digits.
Rhiannon Schuenemann led the way with 17 digs, followed by 14 for
Rachel Hickey. Schlechte added 12, while Pogue tallied a double-double with 11 and Ali Cook finished with 10. At the net, IUPUI finished with 11 blocks as a team led by seven from
Haley Hoffman and four each by Pogue and Dean.
The Jags forced the fifth set with a set four win that began with UIC committing four errors and Hoffman and Pogue earning a block as the Jags went up 7-2. UIC went on a run to pull within one and the teams went back and forth until UIC scored three-straight to take a 16-15 lead. Blocks by the duos of Schlechte and Hoffman and Schlechte and Dean bookended a 4-0 run for IUPUI as the Jags jumped ahead 19-16. Kills by Hoffman and Johnson gave the Jags set point at 24-19 and one point later Johnson's kill forced the fifth set.
IUPUI came out of the gates blistering in the first set, hitting .400 as a team for the set with 12 kills and two errors. The Jags scored the first six points in the set, including two aces by Hickey. UIC pulled within one at 11-10 after a 4-0 run and would take the lead at 16-14 after another 4-0 run. A block by Johnson and Dean highlighted a 3-0 run that earned IUPUI the lead and the teams traded points until the set was knotted at 20. A kill by Wright gave the Jags a 22-20 lead and with a 23-22 lead, Johnson and Pogue delivered kills to give IUPUI the set one win.
The Jaguars offense went cold for the next two sets, committing 13 combined errors in the two frames to allow UIC to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
UP NEXT
IUPUI will play Milwaukee on Saturday (Nov. 2) with the match beginning at 4 p.m.
