CARBONDALE, Ill. – IUPUI opened up play at the Southern Illinois Invitational in thrilling fashion with a five-set win over Southern Illinois, before beating Alabama State in four sets to win their first two matches of the weekend on Friday (Sept. 13).  IUPUI (4-4) was down 2-0 to Southern Illinois and fought off six-straight match points in the third set against the Salukis. 

IUPUI 3, Southern Illinois 2
The Jags began the day with a remarkable comeback against Southern Illinois, winning in five sets after falling down 0-2. Hannah Oehlberg led the way for IUPUI on offense with 11 kills and Corrissa Remter hit double-figures, adding 10. Both Kaitlyn Johnson and Allie Pogue each finished with nine kills on the afternoon.

Defensively, four Jaguars finished in double-figure digs with Rachel Hickey leading the way with 34. Oehlberg notched a double-double adding 13 digs and both Rebecca Schlechte and Maddie Dean had 10. At the net, Remter led the way with eight blocks.

After dropping the first two sets 25-21 and 25-16, IUPUI looked like it was going to drop a quick 3-0 decision as Southern Illinois earned set point at 24-18. A kill by Johnson fought off the first set point and three-straight errors by Southern Illinois brought IUPUI within two. The Jags got another kill from Johnson to pull within one and another attack error by SIU tied the set. IUPUI took its first lead of the set with an ace by Hickey and Johnson's third kill of the run gave the Jags the set win.

In set four, with IUPUI down 22-20, the Jags went on another run, this time four-straight to earn set point. The Jags got four kills from four different players to go up 24-22. It was now Southern Illinois' turn to fight off set point, winning back-to-back points to tie the set at 24. The Jags earned their third set point with a kill by Remter and a block by Remter and Oehlberg knotted the match at two.

IUPUI had split its first two five-set matches of the season and jumped out to an early 4-1 lead. IUPUI jumped ahead 11-6 after a kill by Hoffman and ace by Oehlberg. Southern Illinois was able to get back within three at 13-10 but Hickey picked up a kill and an SIU error closed out the match for the Jags.

IUPUI 3, Alabama State
IUPUI earned its second win of the day with a 3-1 victory over Alabama State, with the defense holding the Hornets to a match hitting percentage of .043. The Jags finished with 70 digs as a team with Rachel Hickey and Rhiannon Schuenemann each collecting 15 and Rebecca Schlechte grabbing 10 as part of a 36-assist, 10-dig double-double.

On offense, Maddie Dean led the way with 14 kills, hitting .345 and Oehlberg tallied 12 to also finish in double-figures.

In the first set, Alabama State took a 12-11 lead before IUPUI rattled off four-straight to take control of the set. For the rest of the set, every time the Hornets got close, the Jags had an answer. The Jags closed out the set on a 3-1 run featuring two kills by Abbie Pogue to end the set.

IUPUI cruised in the second set 25-13, helped by 11 Alabama State errors as the Hornets hit -.167 in the set. The Jags offense hit .250 in the second frame with 11 kills to just four errors. IUPUI took control early, going up 6-1 with an Oehlberg service ace capping the rally. Later in the set,  three-straight Hornet errors were followed by a block by Remter and Oehlberg and a kill by Oehlberg as the Jags took a 15-5 lead.

The Jaguar offense disappeared in set three as the Jags hit -.054 in the frame and lost 25-20, forcing a fourth set.

In the fourth, IUPUI used an early 5-0 run to take an 8-3 lead and later in the set, kills by Oehlberg, Dean and Johnson put the Jags up 13-8. With the Jags up 16-11, Alabama State used a 7-0 run to jump ahead. After an IUPUI point, ASU increased its lead to four with a 3-0 run. The Jags fought back to get within one at 23-22 but the Hornets earned set point after a Remter service error.

Facing the threat of another fifth set, IUPUI fought off set point with a kill from Johnson. A kill by Dean gave IUPUI match point and Oehlberg finished things off with a kill.

UP NEXT
IUPUI will finish their tournament at Southern Illinois with a match against Memphis on Saturday (Sept. 14) at 12 p.m.