INDIANAPOLIS — The IU Indy volleyball closed out the Hampton Inn Invite with a thrilling five set win over Akron 3-2 (25-14, 16-25, 25-22, 17-25, 15-12) on Saturday. The Jaguars moved from down 10-11 in the fifth set to a 15-12 set win to finish the match. Sophomore
Jillian Tippmann was named to the Hampton Inn All-Tournament team following the three-match weekend.
In the first set, the Jaguars won seven of eight rallies to move from an 11-8 lead to an 18-9 advantage, with
Grace Purichia and
Bailey Sinish serving aces during the stretch.
Maia Long closed the set with a service ace as the Jaguars finished off a 25-14 win.
After Akron moved ahead 15-10 in the second set, the Jaguars' clearest push came as Sinish and
Lila Britt kills, a
Laura Roeder ace and a Long kill helped trim the deficit to 17-15. Akron answered by scoring the next five points and finished the set 25-16.
The Jaguars got back on top after closing the third set by scoring four of the final five points from a 21-21 tie to win 25-22, with kills by Purichia,
Jillian Tippmann and Long before Tippmann's service ace ended it.
Roeder's serve helped the Jaguars turn a 7-5 deficit into an 8-7 lead, getting an ace from Roeder and two Akron attack errors during the fourth set. The teams were later tied at 11 after kills from
Elle Patterson and Sinish, but Akron answered with three straight points and kept the Jaguars chasing. Roeder added another ace and Tippmann followed with a kill to make it 20-17, before Akron scored the final five points to take the set 25-17.
In the fifth set, the Jaguars answered Akron's late 11-10 lead by taking four of the final five points, with Sinish tying the set on a kill and putting the Jaguars ahead 12-11 with a service ace. Sinish had five kills in the set, including the Jaguars' first three points. Tippmann finished the fifth set with a kill from Purichia for a 15-12 Jags win.
Sinish led the Jags recording 19 kills, two service aces and three blocks. The freshman also added seven digs. Tippmann matched the team high with 19 kills, hitting .341 and adding two blocks. Purichia finished with 50 assists, 11 digs and two blocks. Roeder posted team highs with five service aces and 18 digs.
After the Jags' win, Tippmann pointed to the demands of the weekend and the way both teams responded, saying, "We've had a lot of volleyball this weekend, and I think it really showed for both teams. I feel like we both fought really well and definitely had some ups and downs, but I feel like that's really what goes to show what team can really keep pushing. Overall, I think we did good this weekend."
The Jags improve to 3-3 on the season and will now travel to West Lafayette to face the Purdue Boilermakers on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 6:30 PM.
