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LIVE STATS vs. #20 Minnesota State
LIVE STATS vs. #2 Concordia-St. Paul
This Weekend's Action... Upper Iowa has four matches remaining on their regular season schedule as the team continues to battle for a spot in the NSIC Tournament. The Peacocks are tied for eighth place with Northern State with a 9-7 mark in NSIC play and are just one game behind a group of three teams that are tied for fifth which includes Thursday night's opponent, the #20 Mavericks of Minnesota State. Upper Iowa will head to Mankato, Minn. for the 7 p.m. match. On Saturday, the Peacocks will host the #2 Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul; the Golden Bears have won the last six straight NCAA Division II National Championships. The volleyball team is asking fans to wear white and WHITE OUT the gym for Saturday evening's 5 p.m. start.
Peacocks Ranked in the NCAA... Kayla Wagner is ranked 6th nationally in blocks with 1.39 per set and 111th in hitting percentage at .302.
Melanie Behnke is 49th in the country in kills with 3.62 per set and 84th in points per set with 3.88.
Skylar Lesan is 82nd nationally in assists with 9.26 per set. As a team, the Peacocks rank 24th in blocks per set at 2.3 and 57th in digs per set with 16.71.
Peacocks Ranked in the NSIC... Wagner is first in blocks/set with 1.39, while Behnke is sixth in kills/set with 3.62. Sophomore
Amanda Weiss ranks tenth in digs with 4.15 per set and Lesan is ninth in the conference in assists with 9.26 per set.
Leading the Peacocks... On offense, the Peacocks are led by the trio of Behnke, Jennifer Mundt and Wagner. Behnke leads the team in kills with 351, while Mundt, a freshman, is second on the team with 258. Wagner has recorded 201 kills from her middle position. Lesan paces the Peacock offense with 685 assists, while Weiss leads the back row defense with 403 digs. Wagner, Hailey Brown and Maryn Fulton have combined for 266 blocks this year.
How the #20 Mavericks Fared Last Week... The Mavericks finished 0-2 last weekend as they traveled to Sioux Falls, S.D. where they fell to Augustana by a score of 3-0. Senior outside hitter Chelsea Fogarty led Minnesota State in the match as she tallied 16 kills and 14 digs as the Mavericks fell by scores of 25-20, 26-24 and 25-18 falling to 16-7 on the season and 10-5 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Minnesota State returned to action on Saturday as it traveled to Wayne, Neb., to square off against the No. 18 Wildcats. The Mavericks fell in the match 3-0 dropping to 16-8 on the season and 10-6 in the NSIC. Sophomore middle blocker Tiana Runck finished the match with a team-high 11 kills while hitting .348, senior defensive specialist Samantha Dale tallied 13 digs.
How the #2 Golden Bears Fared Last Week... Kayla Koenecke recorded the fifth best attack percentage in Concordia history at .773 Friday against No. 18 Wayne State with 17 kills on 21 attempts and no errors. And in doing so, she became the 14th member of CU’s 1,000-kill club. On Saturday against Augustana, Koenecke led the team with 13 kills on 26 attempts (two errors) for a .423 clip. She also paced the squad defensively with 10 digs for her team-leading seventh double-double of the year. Koenecke averaged five kills per set with a .596 attack rate. Amanda Konetchy continued to coordinate a high-powered offense with 87 assists in six sets for a 14.5 per set average. And in doing so, she became the third member of Concordia’s 4,000-assist club. Konetchy directed the Golden Bears to a .368 attack percentage against No. 18 Wayne State and a .339 clip against Augustana. Her Division II-leading assists per set average is now at 12.97. Ashley Murtha posted double digit digs in a pair of NSIC sweeps this weekend tallying 10 digs each night. She also made two block assists against Augustana. Against Wayne State, Murtha recorded her third double-double of the season, adding 11 kills to her 10 digs.
