Sept. 20, 2008
Box Score
The Upper Iowa volleyball team picked up their first Northern Sun Conference victory since 2006 when they defeated the University of Mary on October 27th. Upper Iowa has shown great improvement this season using a combination of athleticism and experience, as well as a renewed focus on the fundamentals. Last night, UIU was only a few points away from forcing a fifth set with the #2 Concordia Golden Bears and this afternoon in Fayette, the Peacocks finally broke through.
Upper Iowa played a tight, back and forth match with the Huskies of St. Cloud State University. The Huskies are one of four new teams in the Northern Sun Conference and are in their first season of NSIC play after being a member of the North Central Conference. Upper Iowa won the first set 27-25, but lost set number two 25-22. As the teams went into the 10 minute break, the match was tied at 1-1. Upper Iowa came out strong in set three winning 25-21. The fourth set was another nail-biter as the Peacocks had to rally from behind late to take the set 28-26 and the match 3-1.
Upper Iowa won the match despite being outhit .211 to .204, but the Peacocks were able to capitalize on a 167-128 advantage in total attack attempts. The home team racked up 68 kills to their guests 43. The Huskies were huge at the net as they tried to derail the Peacock attack tallying 13 team blocks (3 solo and 20 assisted), but the Peacocks would not be denied.
The ladies in blue were led by freshman Sara Vance's 19 kills. The youngster from Tampa, Florida was helped out by Shea Meyermann (13 kills), Kim Humpal (13 kills), and Nicky Brown (12 kills). The offense was paced by junior Keri Vance, Sara's sister. The junior from Tampa tallied 55 assists, just 3 shy of her own record for assists in a match. The defense for Upper Iowa was led by Meyermann and her 15 digs, as well as Brown, who recorded 12 digs, and the older Vance and Dani Coppin, who each dug 11 balls.
St. Cloud State was led by Katie Kimman (12 kills), Ashley Shields (11 kills), Jennifer Waterman (33 assists, 10 digs), Erica Beacom (9 kills, 11 digs), and Kayla Tschida (5 kills, 2 solo blocks, 6 assisted blocks).
The Peacocks will now travel to #12 Minnesota Duluth on Friday evening for a match with the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. and to Bemidji State on Saturday afternoon for a match with the Beavers at 4 p.m. Both Northern Sun matches can be seen free via webcast at www.NorthernSun.tv. Peacock fans will need a high speed internet connection to see all the action.
