YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – IUPUI got big games from new faces but could not pull out a win, falling in a tough five-set loss to Youngstown State to open the spring Horizon League season. The Jags finished with three players with double figure kills, led by freshman Madeline Haines.

In her first career match, Haines led IUPUI (0-1, 0-1 Horizon) with 20 kills, becoming the first Jaguar and the last freshman to have 20 kills, since Hannah Oehlberg on Oct. 31, 2018. Haines also finished with 16 digs for her first career double-double.

Haines was joined in double-figure kills by sophomore Allie Pogue and freshman Millai Madison who both finished with 12 kills. Pogue also added a double-double with 14 kills and Madison added three blocks.

Senior Rhiannon Schuenemann led the team with 20 digs as IUPUI finished with 77 for the game. Darragh Dixon finished second on the team with 17 digs and dished out 46 assists to pace the Jaguar offense.

After playing two five-set matches against Youngstown State (1-0., 1-0 Horizon) last season, it was another close battle with the Penguins to start this year's campaign.

In the first set, with the score tied at 14, back-to-back kills by Haines, followed by aces from Haines put the Jags ahead and IUPUI would earn set point at 24-21 but the Penguins fought off three set points and took a 25-24 lead after an error from Madison. Two more kills from Haines gave IUPUI another set point but Haines put the serve in the net to keep the set going. The Jags fought off three-straight set points for Youngstown State but a service ace ended the first set in favor of the Penguins 31-29.

IUPUI fell behind early in set two but came back to take a 10-8 lead on a block by Dixon and Corrissa Remter. Later in the set, IUPUI used a 4-0 run with kills by four different players to push the lead to 18-13. An error brought Youngstown State within one at 22-21 late in the set but a kill and service ace from Haines and an error by the Penguins knotted the match 1-1.

The third set was another tight set with both teams going back-and-forth on small runs. An IUPUI service error gave Youngstown State set point at 25-24 but Dixon fought off set point with a kill and Haines added another kill to give IUPUI its own set point. After an error by the Penguins' offense, IUPUI took the set 27-25 for a 2-1 set lead.

After hitting over .200 in the first three sets, IUPUI's offense cooled off in the last two. The Jags managed just .167 in the fourth set, falling behind by as much as 18-9 before eventually losing the set 25-19. In the deciding set, IUPUI hit .000 and after pulling to within four at 12-8 after a block by the duo of Haines and Remter, Youngstown State scored the next three points to take set five 15-8.

The Penguins were led by Josi Borum's 18 kills but finished the match with 12 less kills than IUPUI. One of the biggest differences in the match was at the service line as IUPUI finished with 21 service errors to just 12 for the Penguins.

IUPUI and Youngstown State will play another match on Tuesday (Jan. 26) beginning at 6 p.m. to close out the opening week of conference play.