INDIANAPOLIS - The Western Illinois volleyball team captured a back-and-forth first set but dropped the next three in a 3-1 loss (29-27, 13-25, 22-25, 10-25) to IUPUI Saturday night (Nov. 5) inside The Jungle. The loss drops the Fighting Leathernecks' record to 12-16 overall and 3-13 in Summit League play.
Western Illinois was down 6-2 early in the first set but fought back to tie the match at 13-13. The two teams were deadlocked until a combined block from senior Cait Egan and sophomore Heather Smith put Western Illinois up 28-27. Smith put down her sixth kill of the set on the next play and the Fighting Leathernecks went up 1-0 on the Jaguars. Freshman Ann Miller added five kills in the first set, which featured six lead changes.
Western was held to just 29 kills over the next three sets while IUPUI (14-14, 8-8 Summit League) put down 46 kills. The Jaguars held overall advantages in kills (61-46), service aces (6-4), digs (90-70) and total blocks (12-9). IUPUI also hit .311 over the final three sets while holding Western to a .058 attack percentage.
Smith picked up her fifth start of the season and led the Leatherneck offense for the second straight match with a career-high 12 kills on 45 attempts. Over the last six matches, Smith is averaging 2.47 kills per set after averaging less than one kill per set over the first 22 contests of the season. She also tied a career-high with three block assists.
Junior Megan Toczek came off the bench to put down nine kills on 19 attempts. Toczek was dominant in the third set as she collected seven kills on just 13 attempts and a block assist.
Miller ended the match with nine kills on 33 attempts and also compiled 12 digs. It is Miller's 22nd double-digit dig performance of the season.
Western's strong blocking game was led by Egan and freshman Mallory Gibson. Egan had five block assists while Gibson compiled four of her own. Gibson also collected her first career service ace in the first set win. Western's nine team blocks is tied for the fourth highest total this season.
Junior Bridget Murphy compiled 22 digs for her 16th 20-plus dig performance of the 2011 campaign. Murphy leads The Summit League with 6.03 digs per set and has been named the Defensive Player of the Week twice this season.
Sophomore Sarah Fetter dished out 39 assists to go along with six digs and three block assists. Freshman Molly Murphy compiled 10 digs for her 11th double-digit effort this season while freshman Bailey Kaloupek chipped in 11 digs and a service ace.
Western Illinois has five days off before playing at IPFW on Friday (Nov. 11). The Mastodons are 18-8 overall and have clinched a spot in The Summit League postseason tournament with an 11-4 record in conference play. First serve from inside the Hilliard Gates Sports Center is set for 6 p.m. CT.
