INDIANAPOLIS – IUPUI volleyball started conference play off in a big way with a five-set win over Cleveland State on Friday (Sept. 27). The Jags were led by Haley Hoffman who finished the match with 13 kills and 10 blocks.

The Jags earned the five-set win coming back from down 2-1 after losing sets two and three.

"[The win] feels amazing," said head coach Lindsey Froehlich. "I think the girls have shown a lot of maturity and resilience. They did what we asked them to do, which was really awesome to see and they had a lot of confidence in themselves to take this team down."

IUPUI (5-9, 1-0 Horizon) picked up a great night from Hoffman and fellow senior McKayla Wright who also finished with a double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs. Maddie Dean and Allie Pogue each finished with nine digs and Kaitlyn Johnson added eight.

The Jags were stellar at the service line, racking up a season-high 10 aces, the most since also getting 10 aces against Georgia Southern in the opening match of the 2017 season. The strong service game helped IUPUI's defense finish with 15 blocks, matching a season-best, as Cleveland State's (4-8, 0-1 Horizon) offense was put off balance, especially in the last two sets as the Jags made their comeback.
"I think a lot of the credit goes to our serve game," said Froehlich. "We said we wanted to take them out of their system and serve aggressively. When you take them out of system you force them to make errors and we were patient on the block."

Rachel Hickey led the Jaguar backline defense with 18 digs and both Remter and Johnson added five blocks.

Both teams' offenses were on display in the first set as both the Jags and the Vikings hit .375. The Jags took control of the set with an 8-1 run late that featured four kills by Pogue and a kill and ace by Remter. The Jaguars earned set point after an error by the Vikings to make it 24-16 but Cleveland State battled back to fight off four-straight set points and pull within four. IUPUI ended the Vikings chances of getting back in to the set with a kill by Hoffman to take set one 25.20.

In set two, Cleveland State's offense remained strong as the Jaguars offense cooled. Cleveland State hit .314 but the Jags only managed to hit .150 as a team. The end of the set saw the script flip as IUPUI was down 24-19 but then went on a 4-0 run featuring kills by Wright and Johnson and an ace by Hickey to make the score 24-23. The rally ended with a kill by Cleveland State to knot the match 1-1 with a 25-23 set win.

The offense remained a struggle for the Jags in set three, hitting .065 and only picking up seven kills during the frame. Cleveland State hit .289 on route to a 25-17 set win to take a 2-1 lead.

Trinniti Hall led the Vikings with 18 kills in the match and Hannah Green (12) and Emily DeGeorge (11) also finished in double-figures.

While the Jags offense did not really improve in the fourth set, IUPUI's defense stepped up, holding the Vikings to a -.03 hitting percentage in the frame as IUPUI forced a fifth set with a 25-21 set four win. IUPUI used a 6-1 run early featuring three kills by Hoffman to take a 12-8 lead. Later in the set, back-to-back blocks by Remter and Dean but IUPUI up by five. Another block, this time by the duo of Hoffman and Johnson had the Jags up 22-16 and Pogue would finish the set off with a kill.

The Jags played their best set of the night when it mattered most, winning the deciding set 15-10 thanks to an offense that hit .300 and a defense that forced Cleveland State to a -.050 hitting percentage. IUPUI scored the first four points of the set and continued to hold a lead as the blocks started coming. A 4-0 run saw blocks from the duo of Pogue and Hoffman and a Hoffman solo block to give the Jags a 12-7 lead. Kills by Wright and Johnson gave the Jags match point and after two Viking points, Hoffman and Wright stuffed another attack by Cleveland State to end the match.

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IUPUI will pay Oakland to close out the first weekend of conference play on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Jungle.