NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – Manchester University rewarded a large crowd inside Stauffer-Wolfe Arena with a three-set sweep of Indiana University – Northwest Thursday, Sept. 24. The 25-21, 25-13, 25-19 victory opened a three-match week for the Spartans (5-7).

"It feels great to be able to play at home," Coach Bryndon Paulsen said. "The fan support was awesome. It was nice to see our team rebound from a slow start and play well in front of them down the stretch.

"We just relaxed and played volleyball," he added in looking at rebounding from the sluggish start. "It's been a struggle with that this year when we just come out and tighten up for some reason. When we're on, we're relaxed and taking chances which is how we closed."

The visiting Red Hawks, despite sliding to 3-10, momentarily staggered their hosts early. IUN bolted out to a 13-4 first set lead, but, at that point, enter senior middle hitter Morgan Pavelka (Noblesville, Ind.). As she would do throughout the evening, Pavelka reeled off a scoring rally from the back line, this one for six points, to fuel a comeback which, combined with senior outside hitter Sarah Pruden (Noblesville, Ind.) and a four-point service stretch later, led the Black and Gold to a 25-21 win. Indiana University – Northwest opened fast in the second and third sets, too, but each time, Pavelka's turn to serve would be up and help overturn it. In the second frame, it was an 11-point roll that reversed a 9-6 deficit into a 17-10 lead, while in the third set, she served up six points of a nine-point comeback that closed a 25-19 decision.

Pavelka's final numbers featured six kills, a .286 attack percentage, three service aces and a pair of block assists. Pruden wound up with nine kills and 11 digs, both team highs, while freshman middle hitter Hannah Tevis (Royal Center, Ind.) produced eight kills and four total blocks.

MU continues its week traveling to Franklin College's Spurlock Center for a triangular with the host Grizzlies and Otterbein University of Ohio. The match against FC, the 2015 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener for both squads, leads the off the afternoon at 1 p.m. with the Spartans facing Otterbein at 3 p.m.

"It was good to be able to get in a match (before the HCAC opener)," Paulsen noted. "We'd been going five straight days against ourselves in practice. We did get a lot done (in that time), but it was nice to play someone else tonight."

NOTE: The win continued a four-match win Spartans' win streak in the series. MU has yet to drop a set to IUN.