Peacocks Rally for Five Set Victory over Warriors

Upper Iowa 3 - Winona State 2 (17-25, 15-25, 25-16, 26-24, 15-13)

Box Score

Box Score (HTML)

Records

Upper Iowa 5-7 (1-2 NSIC) | Winona State 3-9 (0-3 NSIC)

Recap

After the Warriors dominated play in the first two sets of tonight's NSIC volleyball match in Fayette, the Peacocks reversed the trend in set three picking up a 25-16 win and then outlasted their guests in sets four and five to win both by a pair of points, 26-24 and 15-13. The rally gave Upper Iowa a 3-2 victory and their first mark in the NSIC win column this season.

Winona State controlled the first two sets hitting .343 and .565 respectively, while holding UIU to meager .111 and .088 hitting percentages. WSU claimed 25-17 and 25-15 victories sending UIU to the locker room looking for answers.

At the break, only one Peacock hitter had consistent success on the attack. Sophomore Jennifer Mundt had 6 kills in the first two sets and recorded a hitting percentage above .200. Upper Iowa climbed on Mundt's back in the third set and her energy began to filter out to the rest of the team.

In the third set, the teams opened play evenly as the score was knotted 5-5. Upper Iowa separated themselves with a 8-1 run aided by attack errors from the Warriors. The Peacocks continued to push their advantage and led 21-16 late in the set before closing out the win with four straight points.

The Peacocks fell behind 12-8 in the fourth set, but the team closed the gap and took the lead with a 6-1 run for a 14-13 lead. The Warriors answered with a 5-1 run to reclaim the lead, but once again the home team, backed by their crowd, fought back to tie the match at 20-20. Trailing 24-22, UIU turned their night's destiny over to their senior hitter Melanie Behnke. Behnke hammered a kill down the line to bring UIU within one and Mundt tied the match with a kill on the next play. UIU conintued to press and got the two points they needed to extend the match to a fifth set. Mundt was lights out in the fourth set with 6 kills and a .400 hitting percentage.

UIU and WSU went back and forth in the fifth set with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage. With the match tied at 9-9, freshman Chelsea Berry got a kill to give the Peacocks a lead that they would not surrender. Setter Hailey Brown fed Mundt a pair of assists for the final two Peacock points including the deciding point to win the match. Freshman Alisha VanderWoude came up big with three kills in the final set.

Side Notes

UIU scored 13 of their 15 points on kills in the final frame.

Next Up

The Peacocks will remain at home this weekend with matches against the University of Minnesota Crookston on Friday at 7 p.m. and Bemidji State University on Saturday at 4 p.m.

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