The IU Indianapolis volleyball team swept Ohio University 26-24, 25-21, 25-22 on Thursday, handing the Bobcats their first loss of the season in the Jaguars' home opener and the opening match of the Hampton Inn Invitational.
The teams traded points through the opening set, tied repeatedly before the Jaguars pulled ahead 19-14 and forced an Ohio timeout. The Bobcats closed the gap out of the break and drew even at 22-22 on a service ace. IU Indy answered with a kill from sophomore opposite Jillian Tippmann and a service ace to seal the set.
Ohio matched the Jaguars point for point through much of the second set before IU Indy pulled away late to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Jaguars opened the third set strong and built an 8-3 lead. Ohio answered and took a 19-17 edge late in the set, but IU Indy responded out of a Bobcat timeout to tie it and close out the match in front of 515 at the Jungle.
IU Indy hit .329 for the match with 42 kills, 38 assists, 28 digs and 9 service aces. Tippmann led the Jaguars with 13 kills, hitting .364, and added 2 aces. Freshman outside hitter Bailey Sinish followed with 11 kills on a .400 clip and 5 digs. Setter Grace Purichia distributed 30 assists, and Laura Roeder anchored the back row with a team-high 9 digs while leading all servers with 4 aces.
The win moved IU Indy to 2-2 on the season. Ohio, which entered the match 3-0 after sweeping Bucknell, Niagara and Marshall at the Marshall Invitational, fell to 3-1.
"I think our biggest strength, we have two attackers that probably get a lot of the headlines and had some pretty big kill numbers today, Bailey Sinish and Jillian Tippmann," said head coach Andrew Kroger. "What allowed that to happen was our balance across all of our attackers. Teams weren't able to camp on them and just really focus on them because our setter did a great job of making sure our attackers were also integrated into our offense."
IU Indy faces Marshall in the second match of the Hampton Inn Invitational at home on Sept. 4 at 6 p.m., streaming on ESPN+, followed by Akron on Sept. 5 at 3 p.m.
"It's always great to start with a win," Kroger said. "If you look at Ohio's results so far this season, I think on paper, they were our toughest challenge. They beat Marshall last week, and so I think that [by] getting out of this with a win, our spirits are high, and we are feeling good about our game."
Jocelyn Quintana is a junior majoring in communications studies and psychology. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing piano and keeping up with her favorite soccer, basketball, football and baseball teams.
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