KALAMAZOO, Mich. – IUPUI fell in five sets to Western Michigan before dropping a four-set match to Michigan State to begin their weekend at Western Michigan on Friday (Sept. 20). The Jaguars jumped out early in both matches but could not pull out a victory.
WESTERN MICHIGAN 3, IUPUI 2
The Jags won the first two sets against the Broncos but the offense could not keep up the pace of the first two sets as IUPUI would drop the last three sets in a five set loss.
Allie Pogue led the Jaguars with a career-high 13 kills.
Hannah Oehlberg and
Kaitlyn Johnson joined Pogue in double-digit kills with 12 and 11, respectively.
Rebecca Schlechte guided the offense with 37 assists but finished with a team-high five service errors as the Jaguars hurt themselves with 17 total service errors.
On defense,
Rachel Hickey led the Jaguar back line with 27 digs and Oehlberg posted a double-double with 12 digs.
Rhiannon Schuenemann added 11 digs.
IUPUI's offense hit .235 with 13 kills and only five errors in the first set as the Jags took set one 25-22. It was a back-and-forth set until the Jags finally took a three-point lead at 24-21 after a bad set by Western Michigan. The Jags closed out the set with a kill from
Shakana Norfleet.
Set two was another close set until the Jags scored four-straight, highlighted by kills from Pogue and Johnson. The Jags would not relinquish the lead and extend it to five after back-to-back Broncos errors made the score 22-17. The Jags would eventually win set two 25-19.
After hitting .235 in the first set and .174 in set two, the IUPUI offense hit just .081 in the third set as the Broncos took the set 25-19. Things got worse for IUPUI's offense in the fourth set as the Jags hit -.027, allowing the Broncos to force a fifth set.
In the deciding set, the Jags jumped ahead early with two WMU errors and an ace by
Corrissa Remter made it 7-4 IUPUI. The Jaguars held the lead at 11-9 but Western Michigan took the lead with a 3-0 run. A kill by Oehlberg tied the set but WMU earned match point with two consecutive points. Remter's kill fought off the first set point but a kill from Western Michigan ended the match at 15-13.
MICHIGAN STATE 3, IUPUI 1
IUPUI earned a first set win over the Spartans but was eventually overwhelmed by the Big Ten foe in a four-set loss. Oehlberg led the Jags with an 11-kill, 10-dig double-double. It was Oehlberg's fourth-straight double-double and fifth in her last six matches.
Johnson finished with six kills and Pogue and
Maddie Dean each had five but all three players finished with a negative hitting percentage. For the match, the Jags hit .040 as a team, including -.212 in the second set, while allowing Michigan State to hit .278.
IUPUI used three MSU errors and a block by Schlechte and Remter to go ahead 13-9 and benefited from multiple Spartan errors to hold the lead until two-straight points for Michigan State tied the set at 22. A kill by Johnson and block by Remter earned set point for the Jags and two points later, Oehlberg finished the set with a kill for a 25-23 win.
Michigan State cruised to a 25-12 win in set two to tie the match and used an 8-1 run halfway through the third set to take the match lead with a 25-18 win in set three.
Needing to win the fourth to stay in the match, IUPUI pulled within three at 11-8 with a kill by Oehlberg but the Spartans rattled off four-straight to go up seven. Remter ended the run with a kill by MSU scored five-straight to take control. The Jags tried to come back, helped by three errors from MSU to get within six but it was the closest the Jaguars would get the rest of the way, losing set four 25-17.
UP NEXT
IUPUI will play its final non-conference game of the season against Auburn on Saturday (Sept. 21) at 1 p.m.
