The American Volleyball Coaches Association, or AVCA, released their weekly NCAA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll this afternoon and Upper Iowa cracked into the rankings for the first time in program history. The Peacocks have received votes in the poll for the last seven weeks, but a five-set win at No. 20 Wayne State and a five-set loss at No. 15 Augustana earned UIU a spot in the rankings at No. 25. 

The Peacocks are one of eight teams from the Northern Sun Conference in the top 25, while the University of Sioux Falls, who the Peacocks swept in Fayette, is still receiving votes. Concordia University, St. Paul sits atop the rankings, while Southwest Minnesota State University is ranked second. Northern State University is seventh, the University of Minnesota Duluth is ninth, Winona State University is fifteenth, Augustana is sixteenth and Wayne State is now twenty-second in the poll. Upper Iowa's six losses this season have all come at the hands of the teams ranked No. 1, 2, 7, 9, 15 and 16. The team is 3-6 against teams listed in the AVCA Top 25 or receiving votes and 15-0 against the remainder of their schedule.

Upper Iowa's 18 wins in 2017 set a new high mark for wins for the program since the Iowa Conference began sponsoring the sport 36 years ago; the team had reached 16 wins twice. The first time was in 2009 under the direction of Head Coach Shari Robertson when the Peacocks posted a 16-18 mark. More recently, Head Coach Aaron Nelson guided the Peacocks to a 16-13 record in 2012, which followed a 15-15 season in 2011. The Iowa Conference began sponsoring volleyball as a women's sport beginning with the 1982 season and Upper Iowa posted a 2-32 record in their first year. Prior to the 2005 season, when UIU competed as an NCAA DII Independent, the program only registered a double-digit win total four times over a 23-season span.

UIU has a busy week on the books as the calendar turns from October to November. The Peacocks travel to Winona, Minn. to face the No. 15 Warriors of Winona State on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. and then turn around for a pair of home matches this coming weekend, Nov. 3-4. Upper Iowa hosts the University of Mary and Minot State University in Dorman Gym; Friday's match begins at 6 p.m., while Saturday's match will follow the UIU football game and begin at 4 p.m.