Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEWARK, DE – Sarah Smiley (Worthington, OH/Thomas Worthington) totaled 22 kills, including 13 in the day's second match while Lauren Hester (State College, Pa. /State College) added 14 kills and eight service aces as IUP had a pair of shutout wins on the first day of the Wildcat Invitational at the University Wilmington on Friday.

Seeing her first career action, Smiley had nine kills on 18 total attacks in the first match against Pace, the first of two 3-0 wins on the day for the Crimson Hawks as they improved to 5-1 on the season.

It wasn't just Smiley that played well against Pace, as Hester put up a team-high 11 kills on 23 attacks, adding a pair of aces while Morgan Cerveny (Richfield, OH/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) had 10 kills.

The Crimson Hawks took the first set 25-17 as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead. They would extend their lead to nine at 16-7 but Pace would start to chip away at its deficit, cutting it to 18-13 a little bit later. IUP would then go on the attack, scoring five straight points to take a 10-point lead en route to the win.

IUP trailed in the second set 14-11 before exploding for 10-straight points, with three kills coming from Cerveny. Pace narrowed it to 23-19 before IUP finished off the 25-20 victory. The Crimson Hawks again trailed in the third set 17-12 before going on a 6-1 run to knot the score at 18-all. After later trailing 21-20, IUP used a kill from Smiley to jump-start a 6-0 run to finish off the set and the match, 25-21.

It was a little easier for the Crimson Hawks in the second match against Bentley, getting out to a quick 6-1 lead in the opening set. Bentley would close the game to 11-7 before IUP went on a 5-2 run, which led to a Bentley timeout. That would not help, however, as the Crimson Hawks came out of the break and promptly went on a 6-0 run, powered by a pair of aces by Hester, later closing out the 25-12 win.

More dominance came in the second set with IUP going ahead early 8-1. The Crimson Hawks also held leads of 14-4 and 20-6 before eventually taking the set 25-11. The third set was a little tougher, however, as IUP trailed several times, including 21-17 late in the set. After a timeout, the Crimson Hawks went on a 5-0 run, getting three aces and a kill from Hester to take a 22-21 lead. The set would be tied again at 24-24 before a kill by Sarah Alman (Indiana/Indiana) helped close out the 26-24 set victory.

Alman totaled 58 assists on the night, including 33 against Pace, also adding 16 digs on the day. The Crimson Hawks had 15 service aces in the two matches, with Elizabeth Sova (Myerstown, Pa. /ELCO) adding four to Hester's six.

IUP is back in action tomorrow, wrapping up the Wildcat Invitational against Concord and Davis & Elkins.