MACOMB, Ill. - Senior Ashley Baker recorded 18 kills, 25 digs, and three service aces to help the Western Illinois volleyball team to a 3-2 (30-19, 18-30, 21-30, 30-26, 15-13) victory over IUPUI at Waste Management Court at Western Hall.

The Westerwinds (3-7, 1-0 Summit League) earned their second-straight five-game match victory of the season and their first win in The Summit League.

"For us to open up conference play with a victory is great, especially for these seniors," said head coach Kym McKay. "We are definitely starting to see the benefits of running into teams like Saint Louis and Western Kentucky at the beginning of the season."

The fifth game was a back and forth battle with both teams taking no more than a two-point lead. Senior Amy Sauerwein tied the match at 13 for Western before the team benefited from two-straight hitting errors by IUPUI's Devika Bellamy.

Western came out strong in game one when Baker, the 2006 Mid-Continent Conference co-Player of the Year, rattled off eight-straight serves to gain a 14-5 advantage. The push was enough for the Westerwinds to claim the game one victory over the Jaguars (7-6, 0-1 Summit League).

Games two and three saw IUPUI jump out to early leads that the Westerwinds could not recover from. The Jaguars used stronger serving and hitting to earn victories in the two games. IUPUI recorded six of its 11 services aces and improved its hitting percentage from .128 (13k-7e-47ta) to .263 (17k-7e-38ta) and .286 (15k-3e-42ta). Western tallied no service aces and dropped its hitting percentage from .295 (16k-3e-44ta) in game one to an average of .139 (25k-14e-79ta) in the next two games.

In game four Western and IUPUI struggled to hold the lead, as neither team got ahead by more than five. The Westerwinds were able to force a game five when Baker sparked Western to victory with a kill to give the team the lead for good at 23-22.

"Going into game four we talked about not starting down," McKay said. "We have had issues starting down four or five points, but tonight was an issue of starting down eight or 10 points and in a rally scoring game that is a difficult margin to make up. Especially when you are facing a team like IUPUI."

Western recorded 10 total team blocks during the match, while IUPUI tallied eight. Sophomore Erin Frick and senior Michelle Donnelly each contributed five blocks, with each recording a solo block at key moments in the match.

The Westerwinds will remain at home for one more match before hitting the road again next week. Western will face Drake, Sunday, September 16 at 3 p.m. at Waste Management Court at Western Hall.

Notes: Western is now 19-13 in home openers since 1976 and has been victorious in four of the last six seasons during the first home match of the year...Baker is now just 15 kills away from tallying her 1,000th kill at Western...the left side hitter is averaging 3.57 kills per game, but has recorded 17 kills in her last two matches...Sauerwein is now just 82 kills away from joining the 1,000 Kill/1,000 Dig Club.