INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI volleyball team capped play at the Hampton Inn Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 4), splitting its two matches inside the Jungle. The Jags defeated Western Illinois 3-2 in the afternoon before falling to tournament champion Toledo in the finale. 

Sophomore middle Emily Alan played her way on to the All-Tournament Team. 

IUPUI 3, Western Illinois 2
Despite relinquishing a two-sets-to-none lead, the IUPUI volleyball team prevailed 3-2 in a Saturday afternoon (Sept. 4) home thriller against Western Illinois at the Hampton Inn Invitational. In so doing, the Jaguars rebounded from last night's defeat to reach 2-3 on the year, while the Leathernecks dropped to 0-5. Although both teams notched a hitting percentage below .130, IUPUI distinguished itself with 13 service aces to just six for its opponents.
 
"The servers did a fantastic job behind the end line," head coach Lindsey Froehlich said. "When we started making some hitting errors or some crazy plays that we couldn't execute, we could just be a little bit more mentally tough in some of those situations, but I'm really proud of our servers and how they attacked."
 
Much like last night, IUPUI started fast.

Alan asserted herself with four kills and two block assists in the opening set, while Allie Pogue (four kills), Brooke Phillips (kill, ace) Rhiannon Schuenemann (four digs, ace) and freshman libero Emma Ashcraft (ace) also propelled the Jaguars to a dominant 25-11 win. Western Illinois looked lost on the court, putting up a goose egg in the hitting percentage department while the Jaguars hit .286.
 
IUPUI stumbled out of the gate in set two, committing four errors en route to an 8-2 Leathernecks advantage. They clawed back to take the lead, galvanized by aces from Brown, Phillips and Alli Cook and Western Illinois could not recover. An emphatic block from Alan and Phillips wrapped up the second set 25-18 for the Jaguars.
 
"Everything was clicking," said Alan of her team's solid start. "Our serve-and-pass was amazing, and when we have a good serve-and-pass, that's when we have a good offense."
 
In set three, the Leathernecks turned up the heat to establish a seven-point advantage. Another Phillips ace sparked a Jaguar run that brought them within two points, only for Western Illinois to pull away again. Kalynn Davis and Aubrey Putnam helped the visitors stay alive with a 25-19 third set win.
 
Set four again saw the Leathernecks take command, jumping out to a 12-6 lead. Alan, Phillips and Maddie Haines did what they could, getting the Jaguars to within two on multiple occasions, but it wasn't enough. Western Illinois forced a tiebreaker with another 25-19 victory.
 
As Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" played in the Jungle before the decisive fifth set, it indeed seemed like IUPUI was going off the rails. However, Froehlich called timeout after a close officiating call went the Leathernecks' way and IUPUI hauled the train back onto track. The Jaguars teed up four match points at game's end and delivered a 15-12 win, completing what was a landmark triumph for many of their young players.
 
"This was actually my first win as a Jaguar in the Jungle," revealed Alan, who finished the game with nine kills, a solo block and a team-leading five block assists. "It was really cool for me and the sophomores, and for the freshmen, having the confidence that we can win here."  
 
Froehlich too is aware of how significant this victory was.

"Being able to come back from having a couple bad sets is really important," she said. "That's a growth moment for us and I'm hoping that we can continue to build off of it."

Brown finished with 13 kills and 13 digs and Haines and Allie Pogue had 12 kills each. Brooke Phillips closed with 43 assists, six kills from her setter position and five aces. Schuenemann, the IUPUI libero, had a team-high 18 digs as IUPUI limited WIU to just .070 hitting for the day. 

Toledo 3, IUPUI 0
If "Crazy Train" was the soundtrack of the first match, Hall & Oates' "Missed Opportunity" could sum up the nightcap. IUPUI came out feisty in the first set and used a 6-2 run midway through to build a 15-11 lead. The teams traded points from there before IUPUI got to set point at 24-20. However, the Jags couldn't land the knockout blow as the Rockets staved off multiple set points with Ryann Jaqua at the service line. Toledo took a 25-24 lead before IUPUI pulled even thanks to an attack error. However, the guests captured momentum with back-to-back points to win the opening set, despite four kills each from Brown and Haines. 

Like the first, the second set was nip-and-tuck throughout with neither side leading by more than three points. A Brown kill made it 22-21 Toledo, but the Jags gave a freebie with a service error. Schuenemann setup an Alan kill at 23-22, but Toledo hemmed up the set with back-to-back kills. IUPUI hit .200 in the second set, but was unable to slow the Toledo attack, which hit .300 and got six kills from Taylor Alt. 

With momentum squarely on the side of Toledo, the Rockets came out swinging in the third and buried the young Jags, building a quick 8-3 lead. IUPUI crept back within three points at 9-6, but got no closer the rest of the way. Haines was the lone IUPUI attacker to hit double-digit kills with 10 and hit .250 for the match. Brown added eight kills and Alan and Pogue had seven each. 

Schuenemann collected 19 digs and had a pair of aces. Phillips had 31 assists and seven digs. 

"After tonight's match, it was nice to see them come back after a long match at noon. I really wish we would've finished that first set, but it was good to see them battle and raise their level of play," Froehlich said. "It was great (to play at home). Especially for our sophomores finally getting to have fans in a gym gives a different atmosphere. 

"It was great seeing other (IUPUI) teams come out and support us. Overall, it was a lot more fun, just from an experience standpoint."

IUPUI will return to action next weekend when the Jags participate in the Sycamore Invitational inside Indiana State's ISU Arena. The Jags will face off with Indiana State (Sept. ), Austin Peay (Sept. 10) and Western Michigan (Sept. 11) over a span of three days.