Volleyball wins in GLVC
The University of Indianapolis volleyball team extended its winning streak to seven games on Saturday, Nov. 16, defeating the Bellarmine University Knights 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23).
Junior setter Meghan Binkerd had a statistically impressive performance against the Knights, posting 51 assists for UIndy. Four Greyhounds, including Binkerd, also finished with double-digit digs and were led by junior outside hitter Arielle Knafel, who finished with 23.
Sophomore outside hitter Hailey Brown goes up to swing against Truman State University. UIndy won 3-2.
During the night before on Friday, Nov. 15, the Greyhounds traveled to play another conference foe, the University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles, and won their third-consecutive straight-set victory (25-22, 25-16, 25-17).
The Greyhounds were led statistically by sophomore outside hitter Hailey Brown and senior outside hitter Kenzie Bruggeman, who each finished the match with 13 kills and three blocks.
Earlier that week, the Greyhounds claimed another straight set victory over the Saint Joseph’s College Pumas on Nov. 12 at home.
Senior middle blocker Brittany Anglemyer and Brown each had 10 kills, and Binkerd had 40 assists.
The Greyhounds also defeated the Quincy University Hawks at home in another straight set on Nov. 10. Head Volleyball Coach Jason Reed said that his team deserved to win because of all its hard work. However, Reed said that they did not go into the match assuming that they would win, because he believes that Quincy is a good team.
“I think that we served pretty tough, and any time a team is out of system, it’s tough to score points,” he said. “I think that’s really a testament to our serving. We put them in a position to be out of balance, so we were expecting a good match.”
The Greyhounds statistically dominated the entire match and held Quincy to low numbers, with set scores of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-18.
Anglemyer led the team with 15 kills, followed by Brown who had 11 and Bruggeman with eight. Brown also had 13 digs, while Binkerd and Knafel each had one ace.
Reed said that the team was working the way it was supposed to, with members doing their job quickly and precisely.
“We served them tough and got them out of system. And then I thought we transitioned really well, which is what we had worked on in practice the entire week,” he said. “So I think from start to finish, we just went out and did what we were wanting to do, but executed at a really high level.”
According to Anglemyer, the team always needs to worry about its side of the court, and against Quincy, they did exactly that.
“I think we were the most consistent throughout a whole game that we’ve ever been so far, I think,” she said. “It just seemed like we had focus and were just consistent.”
The match against the Hawks also was Senior Day, so the team recognized Anglemyer and Bruggeman before the match started. According to Anglemyer, it was a special event, because many of her family members came to the match.
“I mean it was special that it was representing kind of my whole four years—three here [at UIndy],” she said. “It’s special, but … it’s not like the end yet.”
Reed said that for the rest of the season, the team will focus on consistency, serving tough, passing well and playing clean, precise matches.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter who’s on the other side of the net. We need to focus on doing things right throughout the course of the match,” he said. “We need to stay focused in practice—kind of just keep cleaning up the little things that have made us successful so far. We’re not wanting to look past anybody, kind of going one day at a time.”
The Greyhounds will now travel to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament on Friday, Nov. 22, where they will face Missouri S&T as the No. 2 seed in the East. The match is set to begin at noon.
