INDIANAPOLIS — IU Indy volleyball took care of their Naptown rival Butler on Wednesday night, sweeping the Bulldogs 3-0 (25-21, 28-26, 25-18) in the Jungle. With the victory, the Jaguars have now won the last three meetings against Butler.
IU Indy controlled the opening set from the middle stages on, using a balanced offensive attack to pull away late. The Jaguars hit .333 in the frame and closed the set on a kill from
Amanda Stephens to take a quick 1-0 lead.
The second set proved to be the night's biggest battle. The two teams traded points throughout, with 20 ties and nine lead changes. Butler held a 24-23 advantage late, but the Jaguars answered to force extra points. After IU Indy again pulled even at 26-26, IU Indy closed out the set with a
Chloe Macias kill followed by a Butler attack error, giving the Jaguars a 2-0 advantage.
IU Indy then seized control early in the third set.
Jillian Tippmann helped spark the Jaguars with a kill and a service ace during an early 4-0 run that pushed the lead to 8-3. Butler pulled within three at 11-8, but IU Indy steadily rebuilt its advantage. A
Lexi Grissett service ace made it 21-17, and
Grace Purichia finished the match with back-to-back service aces to complete the sweep.
Tippmann led all players with 16 kills while hitting .519, adding four blocks and three service aces.
Bailey Sinish contributed nine kills and three blocks, while Macias added a team-high six blocks and four kills.
Purichia orchestrated the Jaguar offense with 36 assists and also recorded two kills, three service aces and nine digs.
Elle Patterson added five kills, while Stephens finished with four kills.
As a team, IU Indy hit .349 for the match, including a .391 mark in the third set. The Jaguars also held Butler to a .277 hitting percentage and finished with eight service aces.
The Jaguars improve to 5-6 on the season with the win. IU Indy will continue it's three-match week with a neutral site game against Northwestern on the Ball State campus on Friday night at 6:00 PM. The Jags will then close out the week at Ball State on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 6:00 PM.
