Box Score CHARLESTON, Ill. – IUPUI volleyball dropped its season opener in three sets at Eastern Illinois on Friday (Aug. 27). Sophomore Millai Madison and freshman Briana Brown each led the Jags with six kills.

Behind Madison and Brown, Maddie Haines finished with five kills and Allie Pogue added four for head coach Lindsey Froehlich. Darragh Dixon guided the offense for IUPUI with 16 assists.

IUPUI (0-1) had a hard time getting the offense going early, finishing with eight kills and hitting .029, dropping the first set 25-12.

In set two, the Jags were close early on with Brown getting a kill to cut the deficit to 7-5. After a kill, Eastern Illinois (1-0) scored four of its next five points off service aces to extend the lead to 13-5. IUPUI was not able to get any closer than five the rest of the set, dropping set two 25-16.

Set three looked to be slipping away from IUPUI early as the Jags fell down 9-3 but IUPUI battled back with a kill from Sidney Veatch and an ace by Dixon to tie the set at 11. The Jags fell behind by as much as four down the stretch but a kill by Pogue and block by the duo of Dixon and Corrissa Remter made the score 22-21. A kill by Brown a few points later tied the set at 23 but an error from the freshman and a kill by the Panthers ended the game.

In total, IUPUI allowed 11 Eastern Illinois aces as the Jags picked up just four, two coming from Emily Alan. Rhiannon Schuenemann led the IUPUI backline with 10 digs.

IUPUI will be back in action on Saturday (Aug. 28) with two matches. The first match of the day will be against Chicago State at 11 a.m. before the Jags close out play at the Eastern Illinois Invite against Bellarmine at 5 p.m.