INDIANAPOLIS — IUP women's volleyball split two matches Friday with a sweep of Daemen (26-24, 25-23, 25-20) before falling to 24th-ranked Grand Valley in four sets (23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-17) during Day 1 action at the season-opening UIndy Invitational.

Jessica Neiman led the Crimson Hawks with 18 combined kills in her collegiate debut, including a team-high 12 kills against Grand Valley. The freshman also logged five digs and five block assists in the opening match against Daemen.

Nyla Birch tallied 17 kills and nine digs combined across both matches, and her first career ace, while Audrey Torres registered a career-high seven kills (10 total) against Daemen. Kat Warpinski led with 14 assists posted in each contest and 22 combined digs. Bailey Flowerdew produced a team-high 25 digs and dished out a career-best 11 assists in the Grand Valley match.

In her IUP debut, Olivia Heidel posted a career-high 10 digs (12 total) against her former conference rival Grand Valley and served up a team-high four aces on the day.

Simay Memisoglu put up a career-best 11 digs (16 total) against Grand Valley and Delaney Concannon (14 digs total) also contributed on the defensive side.

Match 1 — Daemen
Even though it was a sweep in straight sets, the season-opening victory didn't come easy for IUP. The Crimson Hawks staged a late comeback after falling behind in all three sets and needing to persevere to reverse momentum against the perennial East Region contender.

In the opening frame, IUP trailed 4-1 early and wouldn't regain the lead until Neiman's second kill made it 22-21. A huge block by Birch and Lauren Valentic sparked a three-point rally as IUP evened the score at 18-18 following a kill by Torres. Daemen rallied for the first set-point opportunity at 24-23 until IUP came up clutch with back-to-back points on Concannon's fifth kill of the set and Heidel's first ace as a Crimson Hawk.

The second set was identical to the first as Daemen jumped out to a 12-7 advantage on nine kills. IUP worked to knot the score as a block by Neiman and Valentic evened things at 14-14 before Daemen found another hot hand to build a 21-17 lead. Three straight blocks for IUP tied the score at 21-21 and the Crimson Hawks would close the second set on a furious run, recording eight of the final 10 points. Back-to-back kills from Birch and Neiman put IUP ahead, followed with an ace delivered by Memisoglu and Rylee Brown's kill ended the set at 25-23 in favor of the Crimson Hawks.

Daemen raced out to another five-point lead with a 7-2 margin in the third, but that was quickly erased after IUP found its stride. The Crimson Hawks rallied with an 11-2 run to take a four-point lead at 13-9. The run continued after Concannon and Neiman kills put IUP in front 18-13 before the Hawks held on late in the set. Daemen attempted to stage a late comeback, pulling even at 19-19 on a 6-1 run, before IUP regrouped to end the match on its own 6-1 rally for the 25-20 final score.

IUP outhit Daemen overall in the match .229 to .150, including a match-best .423 (12-1-26) hitting percentage in the third set. The Crimson Hawks recorded an impressive 13-1 advantage in blocks.

Daemen's Abby Ryan led with 15 kills and 11 digs while Giselle Giraud added 12.

Match 2 — No. 24 Grand Valley
IUP kept things rolling at the start of the second match of the day but ultimately came up short in the program's first meeting against the nationally-ranked Lakers.

A kill by Torres put the Crimson Hawks ahead 9-4 in the opening stanza and they remained in front 12-10 following a Valentic ace. Both sides exchanged runs as Grand Valley rattled off four straight points before IUP countered with five consecutive to reclaim the lead 17-14 on a setting error. The Crimson Hawks outlasted the Lakers as a pair of kills by Valentic helped seal the set victory, 25-23.

In the second set, neither team led by more than two before playing even at 13-13. IUP held a brief lead at 9-8 following a kill by Brown, who tallied a career-high five kills in the match.

Despite the strong start on the IUP side, Grand Valley posted nine of the ensuing 11 points on its way to a 25-20 triumph to even the match at one set apiece.

The third set ended in similar fashion as the second frame. After it was tied 15-15 on Neiman's kill, the Lakers worked their way to a five-point lead and closed out the set, 25-19.

Grand Valley rode the momentum into the fourth where it never trailed. IUP sliced a six-point deficit in half when it trailed 16-13 on a block by Mikalah Kim and Peyton Belcher, but the Hawks couldn't close the gap.

Kim made her debut with three block assists, along with Belcher who totaled three kills, four digs and three block assists.

Grand Valley's Jordyn Gates recorded a match-high 16 kills and 21 assists to go with 13 digs.

Up Next
IUP will play two more matches Saturday against Tiffin (9 a.m.) and host UIndy (1 p.m.). Both matches can be viewed live here: https://glvcsn.com/uindy/.

Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's volleyball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawks and @IUPVB.