INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI volleyball team fell in the first two sets of the match but rallied to force a fifth set. The Jags ultimately fell to the Green Bay Phoenix in five sets, 3-2. Sophomore
Morgan Ostrowski led the Jaguar attack with 14 kills.
Green Bay kept the momentum throughout the first two sets, taking a 2-0 lead. In the opening set, the Jags hit just .056 with 11 kills while the Phoenix hit .139 with 12 kills, giving Green Bay the edge at 25-20.
Although the Jaguars improved their hitting percentage to .154 in the second set, they couldn't get into a steady groove and fell 25-17.
IUPUI wasn't going home and kept the match alive with a third set victory, 25-19. Despite being down 17-13, the Jags went on a 7-0 run to take the 20-17 lead.
Emily Alan led the way, recording three kills within that 7-0 run. After a couple Phoenix points, IUPUI closed out the third set with back-to-back service aces from
Briana Brown and a kill by
Grace Purichia.
Once again the match was on the line with Green Bay leading 2-1, but the Jags forced a fifth set after winning a close fourth set, 26-24. IUPUI started the match on a 4-0 run with kills from Ostrowski and Purichia and back-to-back aces from Brown.
The Jaguars held onto the lead until the Phoenix tied the set at 22-22.
Maia Long slammed one down to give the Jags the lead, followed by an ace from
Brynn Zastrow. The Phoenix tied it up again at 24-24 but with a kill from Brown and a Green Bay attack error the Jags sealed the fourth set victory.
After forcing the fifth set, the Jags couldn't finish it out, falling 15-10. Green Bay outhit IUPUI in the fifth and deciding set, .227 to just .038.
Ostrowski collected 14 kills while Alan added 10. Freshman Purichia led in assists with 39 while also collecting 13 digs. Brown earned a career-high five aces with eight kills.
Addie Evans led the defense with 19 digs.
The Jaguars are now 8-13 overall and 2-8 in conference. They next host Milwaukee tomorrow, October 21 in the Jungle with first serve set for 4:00 PM.
