INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING Administration Building, Suite 136 355 N. Lansing Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-2896 317-274-7711 Fax: 317-274-5457

Head Coach Steve Payne is currently in his fifth year at the helm of the IUPUI volleyball program as the Jaguars attempt to defend of their Mid-Continent Conference championship. Payne currently ranks third in school history with 65 career victories.

The Jaguars have struggled out of the gate to a 3-10 record overall and 1-2 in the Mid-Con. However, the Jags have been severely hampered by injuries this season as three starters and two top reserves have missed significant playing time. Jaguars have missed a total of 43 matches to date. The injuries have slowed many players on the floor and required a lot of players that might not have contributed significant playing time to see a lot of action.

The team's five seniors lead the Jaguars in every statistical category. Sara Sparks leads the team in kills. Jennifer Mertz leads the team in hitting percentage and assists. Erica Kulma leads the team in digs and service aces. Mertz and Kulma have both set career-bests for kills in a season this year. Michelle Gruesbeck leads the team in total blocks while Michelle Hamblen leads in blocking average.

Sparks and Kulma are also making their mark in the school's record book. Sparks recently became the school's career kills leader. She also became only the second player in school history to surpass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career and holds school records for career attack attempts and attack attempts per game average. She and Kulma rank among the Top-10 in school history for career digs, digs per game average, matches played and games played.

The Jaguars have only a few home games remaining. They play Western Illinois on Friday (10/12), Chicago State on Saturday (10/13) and Southwest Missouri State on Sunday (10/14). They finish the home season with three consecutive Mid-Con contests. The Jags play Valparaiso on Oct. 20 and UMKC on Nov. 2 before ending the season with a rematch against conference tournament champion Oral Roberts on Nov. 3.

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