Box score
INDIANAPOLIS- The ninth-ranked University of Indianapolis volleyball team extended its record-setting season with a come-from-behind, five-set win versus Hillsdale – 25-27, 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 15-8 – in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals Friday night at the Ruth Lilly Center. Down two sets to one, UIndy took the final two frames to earn its first-ever appearance in the regional final, as the Greyhounds will take on the Lewis Flyers Saturday for the right to go to the Elite Eight.
The teams traded wins in the first two sets. Hillsdale (24-8) fought off three UIndy set points to edge the Hounds 27-25 in the opener, a set that included a whopping 16 ties and seven lead changes.
The Greyhounds (37-1) won the second by out-hitting the visitors .289 to .121. The final point of the frame came on a rare kill from senior
Kyleigh Turner (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) when the veteran libero found the floor after strategically placing what appeared to be a harmless free ball right in the middle of the Charger defense.
The Indianapolis offense struggled a bit in the third, as the Greyhounds had just one more kill than attack errors. Meanwhile, Hillsdale racked up six of its 15 team blocks in the frame and got five kills from sophomore Ashlee Crowder, an All-GLIAC First Team selection.
The fourth set was shaping up to be a nail-biter after the scoreboard showed seven ties in the first 15 points, but as the eventual 25-16 score suggests, the Hounds had a massive outburst in the latter half of the set. With the Hounds down 15-14, the home team orchestrated a set-ending 11-1 run to grab ever ounce of momentum.
Kristina Kerrigan (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) was instrumental in the rally, as the Midwest Region Freshman of the Year candidate compiled six kills, three digs and an assist over the aforementioned span.
The Hounds kept the flow going in the fifth. With the raucous crowd behind them, the Hounds scored the first three points of the frame to quickly force a Charger timeout. The GLIAC Tournament champs would tie it at three before Indianapolis built a 9-5 advantage to induce a second Hillsdale timeout. The Charger ploy did not work, however, as UIndy out-scored its guest 6-3 the rest of the way to take the set and the match.
Kerrigan matched a personal high with 19 kills while setting a new one outright with 54 attack attempts. Not to be outdone, junior setter
Cheneta Morrison (Fort Wayne, Ind./Ft. Wayne Snider) notched the first Greyhound triple-double in over six years with 55 assists, 15 digs and 10 kills.
Courtney Anglemyer (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) hit .400 with 15 kills and three blocks,
Lyndsay Callahan (Chicago, Ill./Marist) had 21 digs and four aces, and Turner finished with a team-high 22 digs, with seven coming in the fifth set alone.
In a regional that began with a heavy GLIAC flavor, Saturday’s final will feature to only GLVC teams of the original eight-team field. As the top two seeds in the region, UIndy and Lewis will meet for the third time this season in a grudge match for the Midwest Region championship. Each team has defeated the other once on the opponent’s home court, as Lewis handed UIndy its only loss of the season
Sep. 18, while the Greyhounds defeated the Flyers in the conference finals
Nov. 15. The match is scheduled for 3 p.m. tomorrow.
Note: Friday marked the second time this season UIndy came back from a two-to-one deficit to beat Hillsdale (Oct. 16)…UIndy’s last triple-double came Oct. 25, 2003 when Emily Huey garnered 11 kills, 13 assists and 15 digs in a five-game win at Missouri-St. Louis.