WILLIAMSBURG, KY. – The IU Southeast volleyball team opened the 2023 season with a pair of wins in the University of the Cumberlands Invitational on Friday, sweeping Union and getting past Tennessee Southern in five sets.
 
The Grenadiers (2-0) opened the tournament with a 25-17, 25-14, 25-15 win. IU Southeast led 14-11 in the first set before a 6-0 run by the Grenadiers put the set out of reach.
 
Abby Marks had three-straight aces to start the run, followed by a block by the pair of Allison Daves and Haley Jaster and two Union errors.
 
A pair of kills by Ella Brooks secured the set for IU Southeast. Brooks had eight of her 13 kills in the opening frame.
 
In the second set, a kill by Allison Daves extended the IU Southeast lead to 10-7. Kills by Emilee Organ and Kali Bowie followed and an ace by Cate Murphy pushed the lead to 13-7.
 
Ella Brooks had a kill and ace on consecutive points to give IU Southeast a 20-12 lead and after three-straight IU Southeast points the lead swelled to 23-13.
 
A kill by Bowie forced set point and an attack error ended the set with the Grenadiers winning 25-14.
 
In the third set, IU Southeast fell behind 4-1 and 5-3 but used a kill by Jessi Kramer followed by three Union errors to take a 7-5 lead.
 
Six consecutive points went to IU Southeast as Murphy had four aces during the stretch to extend the lead to 13-6.
 
After a Union timeout, the Bulldogs rallied back to cut the lead to 13-11, but three-straight points extended the lead to 17-12 later in the set for IU Southeast. Ella Brooks had two kills in that run.
 
Emilee Organ forced match point with a kill and Jaster ended the match with an ace at 25-15.
 
Ella Brooks had 13 kills to lead the Grenadiers, Emilee Organ had eight and Kali Bowie added six. Cate Murphy had 20 assists and five aces, and Ella Brooks and Abby Marks each had three aces.
 
The Grenadiers dominated in serve-receive, recording 13 aces to the Bulldogs' two.
 
Haley Jaster and Allison Daves each had two blocks in the win.
 
In the nightcap, the Grenadiers jumped out to a quick two-set lead after a dominant second0set performance, but UT-Southern roared back to tie the match.
 
With the first set tied at 18, Emilee Organ recorded a kill followed by five-straight attack errors by UT-Southern. A kill by Abby Ruzanka won the set for IU Southeast.
 
IU Southeast jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the second set and did not look back.  The FireHawks tried to get back in the set and cut the lead to 13-8 but Haley Jaster recorded a kill and an ace on consecutive points to extend the lead.
IU Southeast scored the final five points of the set to take a two-set lead.
 
The FireHawks took leads of 15-8 and 18-11 in the third set and withstood a late rally by IU Southeast, who got within 21-18 but won the third set 25-20.
 
UT-Southern won the fourth set  25-14 and opened the frame on a 14-5 run.
 
That set the stage for the deciding fifth set. With the set tied at five, Brooks sandwiched kills around a kill by Daves to push the IU Southeast lead to 8-5.
 
Another kill by Brooks followed by a block by Ruzanka and Kramer extended the lead to 10-6.
 
After a service error cut the Grenadier lead to 12-10, Jaster recorded kills on three of the final four points to win the match.
 
Haley Jaster led iU Southeast with 13 kills and Ella Brooks added 10 while Emilee Organ added nine. Lexi Striegel had three aces and 16 digs. Jessi Kramer had five blocks and Abby Ruzanka added four.
 
Cate Murphy had 28 assists in the win.
 
IU Southeast faces Bryan and University of the Cumberlands on Saturday.