Aug. 25, 2012

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall volleyball took the second match of the Thunder Invite against IUPUI down to the wire on Saturday afternoon, but came out on top and defeated the Jaguars 3-2 (25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 17-25, 15-12).

The Thundering Herd moved to 2-0 with the victory, while IUPUI took its first loss of the season to drop to 1-1.

Marshall's defense contributed in a big way to the win as the front line had a total of 9.0 blocks (18 block assists) to go along with 86 digs.

Senior outside hitter Katy Schad registered her second double-double in two matches and finished with a career-high 21 kills and 18 digs.

Freshman Lauren Legge continued to make an impact early in her volleyball career and recorded 12 kills and two blocks, while fellow freshman Jillian Shemanski put up four block assists, two service aces and five digs.

Sacha Byous-McConnell swung down nine kills and led the team with five block assts.

Sophomore setter Sammie Bane posted her first double-double of the season, putting up 46 assists and 17 digs. The Brownstown, Ind. native also committed zero attack errors and jousted three kills.

Schad combined for eight kills in the first two sets and the Thundering Herd took a 2-0 lead to begin the match.

Despite Marshall being up 22-21 in the third set, IUPUI was able to capitalize on a poor attack effort from the Herd (.091 team attack percentage) and keep the game alive at 2-1.

The Jaguars took the momentum in the third set and used 18 kill to tie the match up and send it into a deciding set.

Schad led the team with four kills in the final set, while Sacha Byous-McConnell and Katie Potts had a crucial block to set the Thundering Herd up for a win. Bane put down a final kill for the 15-12 win.

Marshall will return to the Cam Henderson for the final match of the Thunder Invite against Miami (OH) at 7:30 p.m. ET.

To find out more information on the Thunder Invite, visit the Tournament Central Page.