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(03/01/19 6:20pm)
The Green Bay Phoenix women’s basketball team came to the Jungle on Feb. 28, 2019 to defend their 2nd place ranking in the Horizon League against the IUPUI Jaguars, who entered ranked third. The Jaguars were victorious against the Phoenix in the previous contest in Green Bay. This time, it was the Phoenix that emerged victorious, 45-43, in a defensive struggle.
The Jaguars lacked the focus that got them the win last time early in this game, committing three early turnovers as Green Bay smothered Macee Williams in the low post. Katelyn O’Riley finally broke a 3 minute, 30 second scoring drought by capitalizing on an easy fast break generated from a Hoopingarner steal.
It was a physical contest on the court with lots of elbows, pushing, and jump balls from the two teams attempting to wrestle the ball away from each other. As the Jaguars struggled to get back in the game, a lapse in communication caused Holly Hoopingarner to commit a five second violation during an attempt to pass the ball inbound. The first quarter concluded with the Jaguars down 11-16.
With Macee in foul trouble and the Jaguars shooting poorly behind the line, the Phoenix settled into a zone defense at the beginning of the second quarter. With 4 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first half, Coach Parkinson made his move to go with a smaller lineup to increase the defensive pressure and utilize a full court press.
Green Bay was determined to reign behind the three-point line in the first half, shooting an efficient 50 percent. With just over one minute left in the second quarter, Katelyn O’Reilly pulled down a rebound, made an outlet pass to Tamya Sims, who promptly returned it back to O’Reilly for a rallying three point conversion. After another Green Bay field goal, the Jaguars controlled the ball for the last 26 seconds of the 1st half, and ended it with a three-pointer at the buzzer by Sydney Roule to go in the locker down 27-32.
IUPUI’s Holly Hoopingarner came out hustling as usual at the start of the 3rd quarter, scoring the first points on a back door pass from O’Reilly. After five minutes of stifling defensive play from both teams, the score tallied 31-36. The Jags grew steady in a high-post attack, freeing up Macee Williams down low to dominate the boards. The Jags pulled down 15 of their 45 rebounds in the third quarter alone. Williams came down with six of those 15, (three offensive and three defensive). With one minute left in the third quarter, Holly Hoopingarner converted a 15 foot jumper to tie the game. The quarter ended tied at 41.
Hoopingarner again proved to be a vital asset at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a steal that lead to an easy basket. This would be the Jaguar’s last basket of the game and their only lead. Green Bay made good on two trips to the free throw line for four points in the quarter, good enough to secure the victory.
“They were a good team,” head coach Austin Parkinson said. “Obviously we want to win, but I told the girls that if we win, we have to be able to handle the emotions of staying focused going into the tournament; and if we lose, we obviously need to regroup and get ready for the last game of the regular season.”
IUPUI wraps up its regular season on Saturday, Mar. 2 at home against Milwaukee. The Horizon League Tournament begins Mar. 5.
(03/01/19 5:36pm)
If you take a trip up interstate-69 headed northwest from Indianapolis, past the glacial cut rivers of Fort Wayne and through the rolling hills just outside the Capitol region of Michigan, you will find yourself in the cozy town of East Lansing, population 48,844.
This town raised IUPUI’s assistant women’s basketball coach Victoria Lipscomb. East Lansing began a journey that all Jaguars share in today as the women’s basketball team accelerates toward destiny in the 2019 Horizon League playoffs. Lipscomb was merely following in the footsteps of her older brother Nicholas, who would use his spare time away from basketball practice and other sports to watch the Rasheed Wallace version of the North Carolina Tar heels basketball team and meticulously critique the games alongside his father. Lipscomb would begin to play Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball donning the jersey number 30, just like her brother, to get in on the family bonding activities.
“The most influential coach in my life was Coach Piper, my grandfather’s friend,” says Lipscomb, “He coached me in basketball between third and sixth grade. He had a lot of good life lessons and wouldn’t let you skate by; one day I skipped practice and he called my parents to tell them that I didn’t come. I was grounded for a week, then I went to practice next day and had to run. I was mad. He sat down with me and told me that he was the one that called my parents, and that I had made a commitment that I failed to keep. Then, it clicked.”
Victoria Lipscomb went on to become an accomplished athlete at East Lansing High school, not only in basketball but track and field as well. In the 2008 Michigan State Championship for track and field, Lipscomb took home a silver medal in the 200 meter sprint running a personal best 25.65 seconds, a gold medal in the 4x200 meter relay, and posted 4th place in the women’s long jump to help the East Lansing Spartans secure the overall team championship with only eight people on the entire squad.
“By far, my most memorable moment in sports was winning the state championship for track my senior year of high school” says Lipscomb.
That determination for success led Lipscomb back to the cusp of success, this time on the basketball court. On Mar. 7, 2008, the East Lansing Trojans faced the Saginaw Arthur Hill Lumberjacks in Michigan’s Class A state semi-finals. There are only two seconds left on the clock, East Lansing is down by one point, and Lipscomb just made the decision to go for the game winning shot.
The only one standing between her 5-foot-6 frame and a trip to the championship is a longtime friend and former AAU teammate, a 6-foot-2 Juanita Cochran. Lipscomb attempts to drive to basket and Cochran seems to cleanly knock the ball from out of her hands behind her… the whistle blows. Lipscomb heads to the free-throw line, “I didn’t think it was a foul”, says Lipscomb.
She takes five dribbles and attempts a shot the rattles inside the rim for a moment. When the ball finally dropped and the score was tied, the spectators erupted into pandemonium. The Lumberjacks call timeout. “My hands were super sweaty and clammy, and my heart was racing,” Lipscomb recalls.
Her teammates gathered around her during the timeout and escorted her to the bench in arms. After the timeout Lipscomb, heads to the charity stripe again. She takes five dribbles, and attempts the shot. She nailed it, sending her Trojans to the state finals. East Lansing didn’t win the championship that year, but the team the year after Lipscomb went off to college did.
Almost 11 years later; Victoria is an assistant basketball coach for the IUPUI women’s basketball team in the hunt for a championship under head coach Austin Parkinson. Lipscomb is just two years removed from accomplishing two master’s degrees at Michigan State University and Oakland University, both within one week of each other, while simultaneously performing as a graduate assistant for the Michigan State’s women’s basketball team.
Lipscomb spends her days now with her head buried in the playbook, going over scouting materials. At an early age, Lipscomb lost all of her grandparents within a span of five years. It was thanks to people like Coach Bibbs, her track coach in high school, who would light up the room with cheer every time he saw Victoria which helped fill in the gaps in her decision to become a coach.
“I battled with the idea quite a bit”, said Lipscomb, “but I think around my junior or senior year in college, after my coach, (Jeff Tungate, current head coach of Oakland University), approached me a number of times about the matter, and talking with my brother, I was convinced to explore coaching.”
With the losses she endured early in life, Lipscomb is sure to keep family close. Victoria’s older brother, Nicholas, comes into town often from the west coast and is here once again to wish her off for good luck against Oakland the next day. Nicholas talks feverishly about how supportive Victoria has always been, especially in influencing him to move far away from family with his fiancée, and not fearing the unknown; although Victoria herself had deep concerns about him being away from those who would be there to support him most in times of need.
“I believe not only did she learn confidence from me,” says Nicholas, “but she superseded me in sharing proponents of holding relationships dear, and understanding success comes with helping others succeed. This is what we learned from our parents and grandparents.”
Nicholas is most proud of Victoria’s ability to always navigate obstacles in her life stating: “She always formulates a plan to conquer obstacles and is great at giving honest feedback.”
Lipscomb wakes up every day thankful for the opportunity and purpose of continuing to make her family proud.
“I was my brother’s shadow, Lipscomb said. “My role model was my mom, and as much as we may argue and fight, she set a good representation of not only what it means to be a woman, but a strong black woman working her way from essentially having nothing, to creating a household with strong family values.”
Unlike her high school track days, Lipscomb has far more than eight people on her team and in her village today. She shares an office with fellow assistant and former IUPUI basketball standout DeAirra Goss. However, the two share much deeper friendship that pits them as long lost sisters.
“I know that I appreciate her as a friend,” Goss says. “What other friend would go out of their way to run errands for you, setup family gatherings for you, or help you clean your apartment to maintain a happy healthy family life, all while helping me learn the ins-and-outs of this job with its demanding time constraints. My family loves her. It’s nice for her family to know that she has family here in Indianapolis, although she’s only been here three years.”
Ever thankful for the opportunities that she has been granted thus far, Lipscomb thanks her upbringing for positioning her to be her best. She doesn’t rule out a return to her alma mater, and current Horizon League rival, Oakland because of the experiences she had there.
“When I look at everything, thinking back to 2009, a lot of the decisions I made then, and even now, were based off of the people that I meet and the interactions,” Lipscomb said. “Although Oakland is not necessarily a destination I would say I want to coach, it was by far the best fit for me in terms of school, the people that I met, the location, the education, and the opportunities that I got out of going there.”
Whether it be IUPUI, Oakland, or whatever opportunity comes her way, Victoria Lipscomb is prepared. She has been exposed to some intelligent advice in her lifetime, but perhaps none greater than this addage passed down from her parents.
“Be proud of who you are and walk everywhere with a purpose, dignity, and worth. Never let anyone else define what your self-worth is, because you are worth more than you think you are.”
(02/13/19 1:23am)
This past weekend, the Lady Jaguar basketball team closed the gap in conference standings on Youngstown State, then pulled away from Cleveland State in cruise control fashion, further solidifying a spot in the top four of the Horizon League Conference standings for Motor City Madness.
IUPUI played host to the Youngstown State Penguins in The Jungle on Feb. 8. The Penguins entered the contest as the conference’s top scoring team, averaging 70.1 points per game.
Before tipoff, the Lady Jags broke their sideline huddle with a call for “DEFENSE!” Youngstown State stifled the Jags down low early, running a 2-3 zone defense to defend against Macee Williams. IUPUI countered by deploying a man-press defense which proved too much for the Penguin’s Sarah Cash, the Horizon league’s eighth leading scorer, who committed three turnovers before being pulled from the game. Just under the five minute mark, the Lady Jags led the defensive battle 9-2, forcing the Penguins out of their zone defense. The pace of the game picked up from there with the score at the conclusion of the first quarter 13 to 8 in favor of the Jaguars.
Macee Williams went to work in the early in the second quarter, banging in two early layups off power moves along with an and-one. Williams recorded 14 of her 19 points on the night in the second quarter. Within the first two minutes of the second quarter, Youngstown State finally found their stroke behind the arc, knocking down two 3-pointers to take a 1-point, short lived lead. IUPUI regained the lead 17 seconds later. The Jaguars utilized a scoring outburst to increase that lead to ten before the half.
“I thought for the first half we defended really well,” IUPUI Head Coach Austin Parkinson said, “but we had two minutes; the first two plays of the second quarter, and the last two plays of the second quarter, where we failed to recall our scouting, and they had four threes. Outside of that, we were really solid. I thought it was one of the best defensive performances we had in a long time. We were really good on the offensive glass and boxing out.”
IUPUI began the second half with an aggressive defense the same as the first. Holly Hoopingarner did not flinch in the face of an aggressive Youngstown State defense, knocking down two consecutive 3-pointers to lift the Jags to a 44-34 lead with 4 minutes, 35 seconds left in the third quarter. She continued to slice through the defense all night, delivering a last second finger roll down the middle of the lane to push the Jags to a 60-40 lead with under five minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Jaguars rolled to a 64-44 victory.
“I thought we executed our game plan to a T," Hoopingarner said. "We could not have done a better job of doing what we practiced all week. I am very proud of the way we executed. We changed some things up as far as the way we defended. Just knowing that we will be able to use some of those things later in the year was a good step in the right direction for us.”
The Lady Jags followed this impressive match up with another home game on Sunday against Cleveland State.
The first quarter started slow with the Lady Jags maintaining a 5-4 lead through the halfway mark of the first quarter before turning up the pressure on defense. Six turnovers and five missed shots consecutively proved devastating for Cleveland State, who trailed IUPUI 18-6 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was marked by IUPUI shuffling the ball around on offense, in what seemed more like a game of keep away, as Sydney Roule delivered three 3-pointers on seven attempts. The Jaguars finished the second half leading 35-17 with key performances coming from Macee Williams, totaling eight rebounds, and Morgan Allen and Tamiya Sims both making 4 of their 6 field goals attempted.
“I think our Chemistry has improved a lot,” Sims said. “We want to be focused on our end goal and do something special. I think where we lose our focus is looking to future games. We just have to take it one game at a time and execute the game plan, then we can beat anybody.”
IUPUI could coast a bit in the second half en route to a 64-36 victory.
“We’ve let some games slip that we shouldn’t have,” Parkinson said, “There is not a room for error for what we want to accomplish. We have to go game by game and not overlook anybody.”
The Jaguars go on the road for their next three contests, but return to the hunt for a championship in The Jungle on Feb. 28 versus Green Bay, and the closing regular season game against Milwaukee on Mar. 2.
(12/05/18 8:18pm)
The IUPUI men’s basketball team fell to in-state opponent Ball State, 85-75, Saturday.
Both teams got off to a slow start. The Jags attacked down low early and often, and Ball State found opportunities to score by pushing the ball up the sideline rather than setting up an offense. The Cardinals jumped out early to an 13-8 lead through coast-to-coast fast breaks.
The Jaguars turned up the defense six minutes into the game with steals for easy fast break layups by D.J McCall and Cam Justice to take a short lived 14-13 lead. The Jags struggled to hold onto a few defensive rebounds that Ball State capitalized off with uncontested shot attempts.
“We’ve got to work on winning those 50-50 balls,” head coach Jason Gardner said. “We just have to have a better start at the beginning of the game.”
The Jags found their rhythm near the eight-minute mark with Justice hitting three consecutive 3-pointers and strong defense from the rest of the team to suppress Ball State’s efforts with an efficient zone defense. Justice converted his first eight attempts on the night and led the Jags going into halftime with 19 points. Justice’s contribution wasn’t enough for a lead as the Jags trailed Ball State 44-40.
In the second half, the Jag’s Evan Hall got into foul trouble early, picking up his third personal foul in the first minute. The Jags were again steady in their attack with dribble penetration and passes to the big men down low, but Hall’s absence was felt as IUPUI was unable to get past the Cardinals’ size, missing the mark on several attempts in the paint.
Emotions ran high in the game as IUPUI amassed a season high in fouls with 24. Center Ahmed Ismail received a technical foul after slamming a ball toward an opponent when he could not collect a foul from multiple double and triple teams that stifled him. Ismail fouled out with 7:07 left in the second period.
“I think that’s the advantage that we have, we can go nine or 10 guys,” Gardner said. “We got into foul trouble, but we had guys ready to step up.”
As Ball State continued to complete critical shots late into the second period, guard Jalen Minnett did not back down from the challenge, scoring 12 of his 15 total points on the night in the second period to bring the Jags within five points at 72-67 with four minutes left in regulation. IUPUI would get no closer as they flame out to end the game.
“We made runs that we needed to make to fight our way out of the hole, but down the stretch, when we needed them to miss, they hit every big shot,” Justice said. “There are no steps back here, it was a tough loss, and I’m sure no one expected us to win this game. The only people who really believed we could win this game are behind me in this locker room, we’re going to continue ignoring the noise and getting ready each and every day.”
The Jaguars return to action Dec. 6 at home versus Indiana University-Kokomo.
(11/14/18 8:24pm)
The IUPUI men’s basketball team had their 2018-2019 season home-opener at the Indiana Farmer’s Coliseum against the Eastern Illinois University Panthers. The Jaguars looked to redeem themselves against the Panthers, who beat the Jaguars 80-79 last season. IUPUI got its revenge with a 71-65 victory.
Cameron Justice started the game off with by banking in a 3-pointer. Elijah Goss and Evan Hall established physical presences down low early. Goss pulled down three defensive rebounds early, and contributed his own 3-pointer to keep the Panthers on their toes. Hall dominated the competition strength-wise, backing defenders down on the baseline block. The Jags jumped out 8-0 lead within the first three minutes. Jaylen Minnett and Ahmed Ismail entered the game around the 15 minute mark to enhance the defense and keep the Panthers off their feet, causing three Panther traveling violations.
The Panthers responded by deploying a press which resulted in a Jaguars scoring drought for just over eight minutes. With 9 minutes left in the first half, the Panthers took their first and only short lived lead of the game when EIU's Mack Smith hit a three to go up 11-9. That lead lasted all of 29 seconds before the Jags mounted a second offensive assault.
The game flow and scoring dramatically increased from there with the Jaguars’ Grant Weatherford orchestrating a run by knocking down consecutive shots, a three-pointer and a layup. Freshman sharpshooter Jack Hansen contributed with his own three-pointer as well, which seemed to panic the Panthers into committing more ball handling errors.
With four minutes left in the first half, Cameron Justice and D.J. McCall forced the Panthers into fouling to prevent an onslaught of easy scores with aggressive drives to the basket. The Jaguars finished the half leading 35-31.
“I think a lot of it was just nerves and emotions,” IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said of the first half. “It was the first home game and the guys were just amped up. I thought they took some quick shots and that we just needed to slow down, and from there the emotions just went away.”
The second half wasn’t an easy start for Weatherford, who had two turnovers on the first two possessions. Elijah Goss further cemented the Jaguars dominance, placing his stamp of approval in the paint with a monster one-step dunk off the Cameron Justice dribble-drive assist.
“I’m just that guy that delivers energy for the team” Goss said. “It can be in any way, a dunk, rebounding, blocks, anything.”
Goss delivered on his words, finishing with eight points, 10 rebounds, and two blocked shots. The Jaguars went up 48-34 by the fifteen minute mark in the second half. The Panthers stayed relentless in their attack against Jags center Ahmed Ismail, getting him to his fourth foul with 12:03 left in the second half, and later for him to foul out. Ismail only played four minutes on the night.
Justice lead the Jaguars on scoring on the night with 21. Weatherford finished with 14 points on 5 of 5 shooting and four assists
“I thought it was a close game where [the team] fought to the end”, Coach Gardner said. “They stayed together and found a way to come out with the win.”
The Jaguars hit the road again to face Boston College on Nov 14 and the Richmond on Nov 16 in the Fort Myers Tip-Off Tournament.
(11/09/18 6:06pm)
Organizing 18,000 people to run in four different directions, starting and finishing, from the same place is no small task. Thanks to a group of students from IUPUI, this task was made possible. The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, sponsored by CNO Financial Group, took place Saturday, Nov. 3 in a course route that stretched from downtown Indianapolis to Broad Ripple’s Riverview and back.
The IUPUI Sports Management Club and students from class TCEM-E219, Management of Sports Events, represented in full force with a group of 50 plus volunteers working the day before, and day of the event to make it a success. The Sport Management Club includes a diverse background of students studying more than just Sports Management, many of whom just enjoy working in athletic competition settings, getting opportunities to meet their favorite athletes, or just mingling behind the scenes at networking events.
IUPUI students braved temperatures of 34 degrees Fahrenheit late Friday evening and early Saturday morning two hours before the start of the event to do setup for the start and finish lines. For over two city blocks, student volunteers positioned 8-foot-6-inch, more than 36 pound crowd control barricades dragging the cold steel bars chilling the hands of those who failed to bring gloves.
The street roared with the sound of metal grinding to uneven pavement, causing shrills to the ears and hand-numbing vibrations to the student volunteers who only had a few seconds break between what seemed like an endless road.
Leading the way for the volunteers on the morning of the event was Nic Lash, an executive student government representative, senator, for the Sport Management Club.
“We had our members out here working again for another year,” said Lash, “the Sport Management Club is continuing to develop a strong partnership with Beyond Monumental.”
Beyond Monumental is an Indianapolis based 501(3) organization with mission to educate on the benefits of exercise, proper diet, and healthy living. You can find out more about their events and programs at https://beyondmonumental.org/about/.
After an hour of placing the barriers, the IUPUI student volunteers grabbed signs to indicate entrance points between the barriers for participants to take to the course. Participants trickled into the streets from side roads and alleyways in a befuddled manner and eagerly raised eyebrows signifying their desire for some guidance and direction.
Nic Lash brought the group together to aide and demonstrate with one such participant how to identify their running group, and where they could lineup.
“Year by year we are able to take on more responsibility and gain valuable experience so that we are doing more than just the regular volunteer work. It’s great to get the recognition from members in the community,” Lash said.
The team of volunteers dispersed to their checkpoints with pennant string flags in groups of four spanning the road to divide five running groups. The IUPUI students walked and directed participants to their group locations prior to beginning the race. More importantly, IUPUI’s representatives could be seen positively interacting with visitors giving high-fives to enthusiastic participants who endlessly thanked them for their services.
Sophomore Liz Weaver, an accounting and finance major at IUPUI, participated in her first sport management club volunteer experience at this event.
“I like the atmosphere of seeing all these people get excited about a marathon they’re about to run,” Liz said. “It’s a cool experience.”
Retired military veteran Jeffrey Capps, one of the runners who frequently visits Indianapolis as a sport tourist , expressed his appreciation to the IUPUI volunteers as a visitor from Decatur, Illinois. Mr. Capps was presently surprised when his brother and law and sister trekked downtown from within the state to show their support during his attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
“I have been here for the mini-marathons a couple of times,” Capps said. “But this is my first full monumental marathon.”
After the race started and all the runners cleared the start line, clean up immediately began. Volunteers piled over 100 two foot mounds of clothes into the back of a moving van for collected clothing donations to be sent off to Goodwill. Work did not stop there. The group proceeded to realign the crowd control barriers so that runners from the half marathon race and the full marathon race would be properly directed in the right direction.
“Once we got the race started, everyone was jazzed up getting the chance to see the entire process unfold and how the work performed the previous night paid off,” Lash said.
At the conclusion of volunteer work after four hours, Lash shared his thoughts on the success of all the volunteers accomplishments stating, “I think the event was a success, it really is rewarding.”
IUPUI students benefit from their experiences in the sport industry whether it is, “Partnering with organizations such as the Pacers and being able to attend networking events, working with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and even far beyond that as we work to continue to get funding through our efforts.”
The CNO Financial Group Indianapolis Monumental Marathon helped to raise over $1 million toward local public education. Students can get involved with the IUPUI Sport Management Club, and the opportunity to participate at events alongside sport industry professionals and network at https://theden.iupui.edu/organization/smc_iupui or email smciupui@gmail.com.
(11/08/18 2:43am)
The IUPUI Lady Jaguars basketball team kicked off the 2018-2019 season with an exhibition game against sister school Indiana University Kokomo Friday, Nov 2 in the Jungle. Despite the loss of last season’s leading scorer Daniel Lawrence, IUPUI has a gaggle of talent returning at the guard positions. Head Coach Austin Parkinson has a core of talent returning to the post as well, led by sophomore and last season’s Horizon League Freshman of the year Macee Williams.
The Jaguars displayed good ball movement against the IU Kokomo Cougars in the first half, penetrating with precise lane cutting. Williams scored on 10 of her 16 shot attempts and pulled down 10 rebounds. Though it was only an exhibition, the Jaguars impressed in three areas.
First and most notably, IUPUI proved it’s press prowess. The Jaguars forced a whopping 31 turnovers out of the Cougars. The Jaguars can press like this thanks to their second strength, their depth. Third, Macee Williams isn’t the only post star the Jaguars have this season. Morgan Allen is going to be a solid backup for Williams down low. The Greenville, Wisconsin native looked solid in her 2018 season debut with fundamentally sound drop steps, box outs, and seal offs in the post. She made six of seven shots and drew four fouls to go to the free-throw line for three attempts.
IUPUI struggled behind the three-point line, but maintained total control of the game, finishing with the final score of 82-52.
Katlyn O’Reilly played hard showing her capabilities. Coach Austin Parkinson was delighted to see the former top scoring transfer from Florida Atlantic University finally suit up. O’Reilly sat out last year due to NCAA transfer rules.
“I thought [O’Reilly], Allex Brown, and Morgan Allen, those three played with the intensity that we’re going to need this season,” said Parkinson.
Agatha Beier led the backcourt with seven assist while Briana Meishler showed great speed and looks to be an additional option to a talented backcourt.
Holly Hoopingarner will look to take on a bigger role this season as the second scoring option to center Macee Williams.
“I think through the course of the year you will see her step up and be somebody that we can really rely on,” Parkinson said.
Riding high from an early season victory, the Jaguars will look to take this momentum into the regular season.
(11/02/18 5:30pm)
The IUPUI Jaguars Volleyball notched their first ever win against the three-time defending Horizon League champions Cleveland State Vikings, who won the first six meetings, on Wednesday. The Jags were led by 21 kills from Hannah Oehlberg. Maggie Gibson posted a career high 44 assists in the match.
The first set was highlighted by early defensive play up front by Abby Boatman, who recorded three kills and two blocks in the set alone. When IUPUI fell down 12-15, Kaitlyn Johnson sparked the team’s momentum with a tremendous spike that setup a 7-2 run. The Jaguars rode that momentum to a first set win, 25-23. The Jags dropped the second set 13-25 after having the game tied 11-11 at one point.
IUPUI’s assistant coach Lindsey Buteyn, dressed in a Ghostbuster’s t-shirt, passionately addressed the team prior to the start of the third set. The team responded with a better effort, but ultimately let the third set slip away 25-23. The fourth set was a back and forth contest filled with drama. Kaitlyn Johnson delivered a kill early in the start of the set that hit close the out of bounds line which left the referees undecided for three minutes in deliberation. The final decision was granted in favor of the Jags. Cleveland State coach Chuck Voss adamantly disagreed with the decision in protest which resulted in a yellow card caution being issued. Voss responded with a challenge that was upheld in the Jags favor after review. Excitement didn’t end there, as the set saw four lead changes before it reached a 20-20 tie. Kaitlyn Johnson delivered another clutch kill to give the Jaguars some momentum, which sparked a five point run. The Jags were able to go forward and win the fourth and fifth sets 25-20, and 15-10 respectively.
“We just need simple grit,” Buteyn said. “The mindset of the team coming off the first set was knowing they could compete with the best. “We can’t allow ourselves to become complacent.”
The Halloween thriller in the Jungle was the culmination of improved team chemistry and coaching efforts to turn the team around and end an eight game losing streak.
“We studied our opponent like never before”, Oehlberg said. “I love being given the opportunity to step up and be a leader.”
The Jaguars have three more conference matches left before the conclusion of the season. A trip to Milwaukee is up first on November 2nd. IUPUI returns home to play against Youngstown State on November 9th and Oakland on November 10th. The Jaguars currently trail Oakland University by three games for the final spot in the Horizon League post season tournament conference.
(10/30/18 5:06pm)
With a bid to the Horizon League Men’s Soccer Championship on the line, the IUPUI Jaguars men’s soccer team faced off against the Northern Kentucky Norse Sunday afternoon for the rights of passage to postseason play for the first time in five seasons. The Jaguars emerged victorious, 2-1, to secure the postseason berth.
The day had added implications for the six senior members of the squad. Nick Anderson, Sam Gavin, Jared O'Dell, Trevor Semakula, Sean Siasia and Rodrigo Zampieri were playing their last home game at Carroll stadium.
“Those guys for sure are a special group,” IUPUI head coach Brian Barnett said. “They’ve had a challenging time at IUPUI in terms of getting results on the soccer field. They’ve always been fantastic students, and they’ve always been fantastic people, but the opportunity to win games and accomplish things on the soccer field has not come for them. I’m super happy for them to end their college soccer careers on a high note.”
The wind was gusting all afternoon at Carroll Stadium. The first half finished scoreless with the Norse and Jaguars rarely contesting the formidable wind.
In the second half, conditions only worsened. Just as the wind picked up and kept the ball suspended in air, so did the referees whistle blows for fouls. Northern Kentucky and IUPUI combined for 11 fouls total, five and six respectively in the first half. In the second-half, both teams had eight fouls apiece, including 3 yellow card cautions, and an additional two fouls in overtime.
Nine minutes into the second half, Cameron Peterson drew a penalty kick from the Norsemen’s Abdul Kooistra on a foul within the 18-yard box. Junior IUPUI midfielder Alan Agular converted the kick to give the Jaguars a 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, Northern Kentucky’s Conner Probert knocked in a wind-aided corner kick to tie the game.
Regulation concluded, sending IUPUI to its eighth overtime on the season.
With 43.2 seconds left in the first overtime, Peterson took his third corner shot of the period. The kick connected with Corey Goode, who netted the attempt and secured the victory.
“Obviously I’m super excited for our guys,” Barnett said. “To have the resolve to compete inside the conditions of the game today with the massive amounts of wind and all of those pieces that they had to go against. I’m really proud for them to come out in the end and get the result.”
The senior class won a total of seven games in its time at IUPUI, four of which came this year. Those four wins, however, are among the best in the Horizon League.
“We’ve made a lot of progress from when we first came to the school,” senior Sam Gavin said. “Every year we’ve gotten better and better, and we’ve understood what Coach Brian Barnett has brought to us, and taken ownership of our roles.”
The remaining conference games on Nov. 2 will determine the final standings. The Jaguars currently sit at fourth. IUPUI will play its first postseason match in five seasons on Nov. 5, location and opponent TBD.