Upper Iowa bounced back from a pair of losses on the first two days of the Peacock Open with two wins over Minot State University and St. Cloud State University to improve to 6-3 this season on Saturday in Fayette.  UIU won their afternoon match against the Beavers in four sets (25-21, 23-25, 25-21,  25-13) and their evening match against the Huskies in five sets (27-25, 20-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-7) after trailing 2-1.

In their first match of the day, the Peacocks exchanged sets with the Beavers to head into set three tied at 1-1.  In the third frame, UIU hit .351 with 17 kills and only 4 attack errors thanks to four hitters with at least three kills.  In the fourth set, Upper Iowa dominated the pace claiming a 25-13 win led by their senior hitter Jennifer Mundt, who accounted for 6 kills in the deciding set.

Three Peacocks reached double figures in kills; Mundt had 17, while Lauren Wombles added 12 and Kelsey Hinrichs recorded 10. Jenna Hermsen passed out 27 assists and Malissa LeClaire handed out 20, while Taylor Williams picked up 19 digs and Hinrichs added 17. Miranda LeJeune registered 4 blocks in the match.

Upper Iowa faced off against St. Cloud State in the last match of the weekend.  UIU won the first set, 27-25, but dropped sets two and three as they struggled to slow down the Husky offense.  Through the first three sets, SCSU was hitting .322, but the home team finally got their block working in the fourth set registering 3 denials in the frame.  After a big start to the fourth set, UIU held on for a 25-21 win to force a fifth and final set.  The Peacocks dominated the final set taking a 12-3 lead en route to a 15-7 win for the set and match.

Mundt was awesome in the attack posting a new career-high in kills with 29 while hitting .421 for the match.  UIU's attack wasn't one dimensional though.  As a team, UIU recorded 75 kills on 72 assists led by Mundt's big night, but two others hit double figures with Wombles knocking down 13 and Hinrichs recording 12.  LeJeune added 8 and Sarah Frisch posted 7. Hermsen paced the attack with 39 assists and LeClaire set up 25 of the attacks.  Hinrichs led the defense with 21 digs and Williams picked up 20.  At the net, Wombles had 5 blocks and Mundt had 4, while Frisch and Alisha VanderWoude each had 3 stops.

UIU will now travel to Concordia University, St. Paul on Thursday, Sept. 17, before returning home for a Saturday, Sept. 19, match against Minnesota State University, Mankato at 3 p.m.