INDIANAPOLIS -  The IUPUI volleyball team dropped its home opener 3-1 at the Hampton Inn Invitational on Friday night (Sept. 3) against the Chattanooga Mocs. IUPUI was looking to build momentum on the heels of its inaugural win of the season, a 3-1 road victory against Bellarmine. However, they drop to 1-3 after this loss while Chattanooga goes to 2-3. Throughout the game, the Jaguars hit just .176 (compared to .280 from the Mocs) and committed 13 service errors.
 
"A lot of our errors are controllable," head coach Lindsey Froelich said. "When you miss 13 serves, that's not exactly the best situation, but I think that's something that we can improve on. When we are aggressive with our serving, it takes teams out of system, and that's the position we want to be in."
 
The Jaguars opened the first set in promising fashion. Sophomore Emily Alan helped her team maintain early control with two kills and a couple of block assists, forcing Chattanooga to call timeout down 13-6. The Mocs subsequently found their groove, drawing even at 17-17 before taking the lead. Briana Brown and Millai Madison snatched momentum away with a well-timed combo block, enabling IUPUI to come away with a hard-fought 26-24 set victory.
 
Chattanooga responded with a 5-1 lead to open set two, which the Jaguars quickly erased. Both teams traded points through the middle of the set, with the Mocs opening up a four-point advantage. A late service error from Rhiannon Schuenemann proved costly as Chattanooga took the second set 25-22.
 
"It was all unforced," Schuenemann said regarding IUPUI's errors. "In knowing that, it's all easy fixes and then we can be amazing."
 
Set three was a competitive affair in the early going, but a couple of Jaguar miscues helped propel the Mocs to a 15-9 lead. Allie Pogue and Madison tried to slow the bleeding with a tandem block, but a Brooke Phillips service error on the following play gave momentum right back to Chattanooga. IUPUI hit just .107 in the third set compared to their opponents' .267, and Gylian Finch sealed a 25-19 set win with a thunderous kill for the Mocs.
 
With the Jaguars against the wall, Brown rattled off three straight kills to spark her teammates as they battled to a 10-10 tie in the fourth set. Chattanooga caught fire from there, however, establishing a sizable lead that would not be overcome. The Mocs took the final set 25-18 thanks to Maia Rackel's game-high 18th kill.
 
Froehlich knows what she wants to see from her team going forward.

"Making sure our serves stay in bounds, minimizing our hitting errors and crazy situations. Controlling the chaos."
 
Brown continued her impressive freshman season in defeat, leading IUPUI with 13 kills while junior Pogue notched 12. Meanwhile, Schuenemann contributed 19 digs on the other side of the ball. IUPUI has another chance to defend the Jungle tomorrow in a matinee against Western Illinois, before closing out the Hampton Inn Invitational by playing Toledo at 6 P.M. EST.