SPORTS: Volleyball Drops Third Straight Conference Match

by Spencer Grosvenor

Photo by Rachel Hale

Steve Payne’s ladies continued their steady decline Tuesday night when they fell to their third consecutive league opponent, this time against arch nemesis IPFW.

The Jaguars were glad to be home after a rough pair of losses to conference rivals last weekend when they traveled to the Dakotas for back-to-back 3-2 losses. They were hoping to turn their luck around when they embarked on their first of a stretch of 3 home games.

IPFW arrived with a three game winning streak in the series between the two.

IUPUI entered the match with plenty of energy. Giving the notion that they were hungry to win, they Jags put up nine consecutive points mid-set, letting IPFW know that it wasn’t going to be an easy task to knock them off at home. The Mastodons fell behind early, losing the first set 11-25.

Photo by Rachel Hale

But the Mastodons would quickly found their rhythm in the second set, but more in the lines of defense rather than offense. They gave the Jaguar frontcourt a hard time, by putting up 7 blocks in the second set alone. Their offense would later take care of the remainder of the set with 11 kills, creating a 1-1 set tie. Points from this moment on would become harder to earn for each side.

The fourth set didn’t disappoint with constant trading of points and momentum. IPFW, giving it all of their might as well as their last gasp while trailing 2-1, and it was enough to have pulled off its rally to push the match to a fifth and final set. For the Jaguars, it was turning into a matter of regaining their concentration and making it time to put IPFW away.

The Mastodons began the final stage to their first Summit League win with a continued rally from the previous set. Trailing quickly 4-0, IUPUI Coach Payne took a time-out to regroup his team. The sense of composure was there and the fight seemed fiercer, but the points were not going into their favor. IPFW would take a 15 to 8 win in the final set, winning the match 3-2.

Jaguar Head Coach Steve Payne spoke about IPFW’s late rally, “They were a very good team, they capitalized on our mistakes and that’s what they did to pull off the win.” 

So IUPUI will get another opportunity to get the first Summit League win on Friday, as they play hosts to Oral Roberts.  You can catch the game over at The Jungle at 7pm.

INDIANAPOLIS
IPFW 11-25-14-25-15 (3)
IUPUI 25-14-25-21-8 (2)