Upper Iowa made it a weekend sweep thanks to a three-set victory at home on Saturday against the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota Crookston. The Peacocks got a balanced attack on offense and
Taylor Williams dominated the back line picking up a load of digs. The win was UIU's sixth in the last eight matches and improved their record to 13-10 overall and 7-7 in the NSIC.
"Today we played extremely well as a team and got contributions from everyone," said Head Coach
Aaron Nelson. "Our blocking was excellent as it scored points and took up space to set up our defense. We did a great job serving by getting them out of their system. We played a solid weekend of volleyball all the way around."
The Peacocks and Golden Eagles battled through the first set and were separated by just three points in the end, 25-22.
Kelsey Hinrichs and
Jennifer Mundt combined for 9 kills in the opening frame, but the highlights came from Williams, who recorded 11 digs in the set. The home team trailed 19-16, but finished the set with on a 9-3 run capped off with a
Miranda LeJeune kill.
The second set started much the same way as the first with the two teams going back and forth working toward a 13-13 tie. Back-to-back kills by
Lauren Wombles allowed the Peacocks to break free and push out to a 19-13 lead. The freshman racked up 5 kills in the set to go along with
Sarah Frisch's 4 kills.
After the break, Upper Iowa came out for the third set and dominated the frame hitting .324 on the way to a 25-17 victory. Seven Peacocks recorded kills in the set, while six players registered a dig as the whole team got in on the victory. UIU's defense held the Golden Eagles to just .062 hitting in the final set with just 8 kills and 6 attack errors.
For the match, Williams tallied 23 digs averaging 7.67 per set;
Ashley Larson added 11 digs. Mundt and Hinrichs each recorded 10 kills, while Wombles picked up 8 and LeJeune chipped in 7.
Alisha VanderWoude played big at the net with 5 blocks.
Upper Iowa will head out on the road for a pair of matches at St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota Duluth on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30-31.
