After a pair of forgettable sets, the Peacocks trailed their guests, the Cougars of the University of Sioux Falls, heading to the intermission in Fayette this afternoon.  Head Coach Aaron Nelson needed a shakeup to ignite the team and attempt a rally in Dorman Gymnasium.  Upper Iowa won sets three and four by just two points, 26-24 and 27-25, and then controlled the fifth set posting a 15-11 win to earn the match victory.  The Peacocks improve to 8-8 overall and 2-5 in the Northern Sun, while the Cougars fall to 8-8 and 0-7 in the conference.

During the third set, senior hitter Jennifer Mundt became Upper Iowa's all-time leader in kills.  The Utica, Minn. native racked up 13 kills in the match and now has 1,314 in her career passing Shea Meyermann (2006-09), who had 1,305 in her career.  Fittingly, it was Mundt's powerful right arm that ended the match in the fifth set with a hard shot between defenders that scratched the scoreboard for the final time and completed the home team's comeback.

"Sometimes you take things for granted as a coach when a student-athlete is there day in and day out," said Coach Nelson. "Jenny has been a steady producer for us for four years. We've relied on her to take a lot of swings and she's come through time and again. She'd be the first to admit she couldn't do it without great players around her. It's a great individual and team accomplishment and it's also a symbol of the growth she and our program have exhibited over the past four years."

Neither team's offense clicked during the match; USF hit .141 for the match, while UIU struggled to a .066 percentage.  The change in the third set came after a new lineup took the floor for Upper Iowa.  The Peacocks had four middles on the floor following the break with Alisha VanderWoude and Sarah Frisch held down the right side position, while freshmen Lauren Wombles and Bethany Lovhaug took the middle.  After just one block in the first two sets, the Peacocks registered 5 team blocks in the third and 3 more in the fourth.  The tide turned at the net thanks to the play of Lovhaug, who registered 7 blocks including 5 in the third set.  While Mundt posted 7 kills in the third and fourth sets, VanderWoude added 5 and Wombles picked up 4 kills.

During the fifth set, Sioux Falls took an early 5-2 lead, but Upper Iowa rattled off seven straight points to take a 9-5 advantage.  The Peacocks were able to fend off a final charge from their guests that saw the margin shrink to two, 11-9, and then outscore the Cougars 4-2 to win the final set and claim the victory.

"It was a great team effort this afternoon," said Nelson.  "We started off slow and Sioux Falls was playing well.  We went into the locker room at the break and talked about playing our game and earning our points with our block and defense. We came out in the third did just that. Bethany and Sarah had a couple of momentum shifters and we were able to do enough to pull it out over a good team. We had a great weekend of volleyball and it was nice to come out on top today."

Taylor Williams led the back line with 23 digs, while Jenna Hermsen (20 assists) and Malissa LeClaire (19) paced the offense from the setter position.  VanderWoude and Wombles ended the match with 9 kills apiece and Frisch posted 7 kills in addition to Mundt's 13 knockdowns.  

The Peacocks will remain at home with a pair of matches next weekend against the #9 Wolves of Northern State University on Friday and the Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead on Saturday as part of Upper Iowa's 2015 Homecoming Weekend.