Upper Iowa's volleyball team is receiving votes in the AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 for the first time in program history thanks to their 9-0 start. The Peacocks have played in two tournaments to open their season and have been on top in 27 of the 31 sets played. UIU's biggest win of the season came this past weekend when they upset #18 Washburn University in straight sets; the Ichabods are currently ranked #22.
The Peacocks' success in the early going has been their ability to limit errors on the attack. The team has been careful not to give points away and a deep attack has defenses spread out instead of concentrating on just one player.
Anna Winter leads the UIU hitters with 110 kills for a 3.6 kills/set average, while
Haley Weepie (70) and
Haley Poula (70),
Bethany Lovhaug (70) and
Lauren Wombles (55) have also had big matches for Upper Iowa.
Malissa LeClaire has been a rock in the middle for the Peacocks handing out 291 assists (9.4/set) and adding 13 kills as well.
On the back line,
Ashley Larson is enjoying a fine senior campaign so far. The Sumner, Iowa product has put her hands on 170 digs from the libero position and has gotten plenty of help from LeClaire (109), Weepie (101) and
Gabby Holmes (67). At the net, Lovhaug has 28 blocks to lead the front line, while Poula (20), Wombles (19) and Winters (16) have all made an impact at the net as well.
Upper Iowa is one of eight Northern Sun Conference teams mentioned in the poll. The first seven are in the top 25 including #1 Southwest Minnesota State, #2 Concordia University, St. Paul, #7 University of Minnesota Duluth, #9 Augustana University, #11 Winona State University, #17 Wayne State College and #24 Northern State University.
The Peacocks have a busy week ahead with the NSIC opener at #2 Concorida-St. Paul on Thursday, before returning home to host Minnesota State University, Mankato on Saturday and #11 Winona State on Tuesday.
