Upper Iowa trailed two sets to none heading to the locker room at intermission, but the Peacocks stormed back winning the final three sets to sweep the NSIC road weekend. UIU defeated the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota Crookston in a tight match that saw three of the first four sets decided by two points and the one by three points. Even the final set was close as Upper Iowa was able to edge their hosts by four to improve to 10-8 overall and 5-5 in the NSIC.
In the first set, the Peacocks took a 17-15 lead, but the Golden Eagles rattled off six straight points to go ahead 21-17. UIU began to rally and cut the gap to one, 24-23, but UMC held on for a 25-23 win on a kill to end the set.
The second set felt very similar as UIU held a 19-18 lead, but then surrendered four straight points and trailed 22-19 as UMC went on to claim the second frame 25-22.
The Peacocks trailed 22-20 in the third set but won, 25-23, thanks to a 5-1 run to close out the set fueled by a pair of service aces from
Taylor Williams and a kill from
Hailey Brown.
In the fourth set, Upper Iowa used a 5-2 run midway through to turn a one-point lead into a four-point advantage, 19-15. The Golden Eagles pulled within one, 24-23, late in the set, but
Alisha VanderWoude ended the threat with a kill to tie the match, 2-2.
Upper Iowa came out strong in the fifth set and jumped out to a 7-1 lead behind the serving of Williams. The Peacocks kept the pressure up and won 15-11 to claim the set and match, 3-2.
Hailey Brown earned her sixth triple-double to lead UIU with 19 kills, 34 assists and 17 digs.
Tyann Caspers also came up big on offense with 11 kills, while
Jennifer Mundt and VanderWoude both tallied 9 kills apiece.
Amanda Weiss recorded 29 digs, while
Haylie Franklin denied 6 attacks at the net.
Sarah Frisch off the bench over the final three sets.
"Minnesota Crookston came out of the gate playing well and it was point for point with them for most of the match," said Head Coach Aaron Nelson. "We were playing hard, but were just a little off our game early. We stuck with it and were able to get better handling on our side as the match progressed. Sarah [Frisch] came into the match in the third set and gave us a spark that helped turn the momentum. It was a great battle today and we showed a lot of character coming back for a huge road win and weekend sweep."
Upper Iowa will take the court three times this coming week with a match at Minnesota State University, Mankato on Tuesday and then home matches on Friday and Saturday with Southwest Minnesota State University and the University of Sioux Falls.
