INDIANAPOLIS – It may not have been a wholly spotless performance, but the UIndy volleyball team earned an all-important Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over Saint Joseph's Tuesday evening, 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-17).

UIndy (6-9, 4-3 GLVC) increases its impressive winning streak over Saint Joseph's to 29 consecutive matches, which dates all the way back to Sept. 14, 2001. The Greyhounds have won 87 of 95 sets during that span.

The Pumas (3-13, 0-7) provided a pesky opponent Tuesday, however, especially in the early portions of the opening two frames. In the first, a rocky start from the Greyhounds saw the Pumas jump out to a 4-0 lead, backed by three quick service aces.

Senior Becca Lira provided UIndy's first three points of the night on a trio of kills, and before long the Hounds had clawed their way back. The Hounds took their first lead of the match at 14-13, when Lira and sophomore Katie Voelz combined for a block. The Pumas continued their fight, but a late 6-0 burst from UIndy helped seal a 25-21 win.

It was much of the same at the start of the second stanza, as the Pumas doubled up the Hounds on the scoreboard, 12-6, forcing a timeout from Head Coach Jason Reed. After regrouping, UIndy used a 5-0 to get back into the set. All told, the second frame featured nine ties and five lead changes, and both teams had opportunities to seal the set.

The Hounds first put the Pumas on set point following a kill from junior Kacee Salyers. Down 24-23, Saint Joseph's scored two in a row to turn the tide and put UIndy a point from defeat. There, trailing 25-24, the Hounds got consecutive kills by Lira and Salyers, and on set point got a clutch service ace from Lira to grab a 2-0 advantage.

Although the third was closely contested early on, the Hounds ran off an 8-2 run to eventually claim a 17-12 lead, forcing a Saint Joseph's timeout. The Pumas fared no better out of the break, however, as UIndy pushed its lead up to 22-14 to all but slam the door shut.

Seniors Lira and Shelby Ruffner combined for an emphatic block on the final play of the game, securing the Greyhound victory.
"Overall, we played a well-balanced match tonight," Reed commented. "I thought everyone contributed to this win, and for the most part did what we asked of them."

That balance showed up in the stat sheet, where a handful of Hounds filled out solid all-around totals.

Three individuals – Lira, Salyers and freshman Anna Fehribach – led the team with nine kills, and both Salyers and Fehribach finished with team-high .333 attack percentages. Sophomore setter Remi Bowman and Maggie Gibson recorded 15 and 13 assists, respectively, and five digs each.

"We've really been emphasizing defense recently, and tonight I thought we executed well in that aspect," Reed said. His squad totaled 52 digs, averaging 17.33 per set after entering the match last in the GLVC with a 12.51 average.

Individually, Fehribach (12 digs) and Lira (11) each totaled double-digit digs to lead that effort. Ruffner paced UIndy with four blocks, followed by Voelz's three.

UIndy hits the road for the next two weekends, first traveling to face McKendree Oct. 7 and Illinois Springfield Oct. 8, before competing in the Mizuno Midwest Volleyball Crossover Oct. 14-15. The Greyhounds and Bearcats square off at 8 p.m. ET Friday.