INDIANAPOLIS – The UIndy volleyball team (4-2) split its first day at its annual invitational on Friday, sweeping in-region Notre Dame College (1-1) before dropping a four-set decision to Florida Southern College.
 
Grace Hegwood led the charge against the Falcons in the opener, finishing with her third double-double of the fall.
 
UIndy 3, Notre Dame 0
The Hounds handled the visiting Falcons in the teams' tournament opener, hitting .261 as a unit to complete the sweep. Hegwood led UIndy with 12 kills, including five in the second set to help build the commanding 2-0 advantage.
 
Six players recorded at least one kill in the first and third frames, with newcomers Elana Brueggemann and Marin Dixon adding one apiece during the finale. Hannah Sabotin did not record an attacking error for the third consecutive contest, finishing with seven kills on 13 attempts. Following the performance, the fourth-year player was hitting a commanding .439 from the middle on the young campaign.
 
Freshman libero Ellie Spang joined Hegwood with double-digit digs, the latter of whom tallied her third double-double of the fall. Spang accounted for two of the team's six service aces, all of which came in the first two sets.
 
Florida Southern 3, UIndy 1
After a tough first match of the day for Sophia Parlanti, the junior came to play in the night cap with a 20-kill-13-dig performance against the Mocs. The Las Vegas native produced six kills, as well as four scoops, in each of the middle frames.
 
The third set was the highlight of the evening for the Greyhounds, who limited the visiting Mocs to .098 hitting in the game. UIndy, which was only credited with four blocks on the evening, stopped two Florida Southern attack, including a solo effort from Claire Morris. The junior setter dished out 43 assists in the loss.
 
Hegwood added 13 kills against Florida Southern and raises her team-best total to 75 through the first six matches.
 
MORE NOTES
Former UIndy assistant Ashlee Crowder is in her first season as the head coach at Florida Southern … the Mocs now lead the all-time series against the Hounds, 2-0 … junior Lauren Peal recorded 19 digs on Friday.
 
HOUND BYTES
Morris on the team's win over Notre Dame College…
"Overall we felt pretty good. We did sweep them, but we still feel we didn't play UIndy Volleyball, but we have more chances to get better."
 
Spang on being named libero as a true freshman…
"Coming in I knew that I wanted to make any impact on the team that I could. I wanted to do what I always do: come in to practice and earn my spot and that's what I did."
 
Head coach Jason Reed on the fight against Florida Southern…
"We got tentative at times. In our sport, you can't take your foot off the gas against a team as talented as Florida Southern is. We tip our cap to those guys, but we felt like we had them in good situations; we were getting them out of system, lots of good ball touches, and we couldn't execute until that third set."
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds close the weekend on Saturday with a pair of in-region matchups, first with Ashland at 12 p.m. in Ruth Lilly Fitness Center.