Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Indiana State volleyball team looked to carry over its momentum from a three-game Missouri Valley Conference winning streak, but were stymied on Tuesday evening by the visiting IUPUI Jaguars 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-19) in front of 188 fans at ISU Arena.
In a battle of teams that each held even .500 records coming in, the Sycamores fell to 14-15 on the season while IUPUI improved to 14-13.
The Sycamores raced out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first set on the strength of kills by Shea Doran and Murphy. The score was knotted at 9-9, when the Jaguars used a 5-2 run to take a 15-11 lead before Murphy stepped in with a service ace to make it 15-12. ISU crept within 15-13, but IUPUI a decisive 8-0 run to run its lead out to 23-13 before the Sycamores went on a 6-0 spurt of their own, eventually falling 25-19.
The Sycamores fell behind 11-3 before Murphy and Loni Mackinson combined on back-to-back kills to make it 11-5. Christie Fullenkamp recorded a kill later in the set to make it 21-18, before IUPUI scored on four of the final six rallies to take the victory. The Sycamores appeared to make a final stand in the set on a kill by Murphy to make it 24-20, but a service error ended ISU's hopes.
Indiana State came out in the third set with renewed energy in the third set and took its first lead at 13-12 on another Murphy kill. ISU used a 3-0 spurt to make it 16-13, but the set was tied up for the final time at 19 on an IUPUI kill. The Jaguars scored the final seven points of the set to win 25-19.
Leading the way for Indiana State was the play of Molly Murphy who recorded 16 kills and also led in service aces with a pair. Kiya James had 21 digs to pace the team while Shelbi Fouty recorded 30 assists.
Moriah Fair had 12 kills to lead the Jaguars.
Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, November 12 when they host Illinois State in a key MVC matchup. ISU is vying for a spot in the State Farm MVC Tournament to be held later this month in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The match with the Redbirds is slated to being at 7:00 p.m. (ET) inside ISU Arena.
