THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK VOLLEYBALL... Upper Iowa returns to Prochaska Court in Dorman Gym this weekend for a pair of Northern Sun Conference matches against Minot State University and the University of Mary. The Peacocks will look to take advantage of their home court where the team is 3-0 against non-ranked opponents this season. UIU will line up with the Beavers on Friday at 7 p.m. and fans are encouraged to wear pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month. The Peacocks will wrap up the home weekend against the Marauders with a 5 p.m. first serve following the UIU football game on Saturday.
TOP HEAVY RANKINGS... The Northern Sun Conference is tops in all of NCAA Division II when it comes to volleyball. There are currently seven NSIC members in the latest AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll and all seven are in the top thirteen. The Northern Sun teams in the top 25 are #1 Minnesota Duluth, #2 Southwest Minnesota State, #3 Concordia-St. Paul, #6 Winona State, #7 Augustana, #8 Wayne State and #13 Northern State. Upper Iowa is currently 0-8 against AVCA Top-25 teams and has one match left against the #1 Bulldogs. While the Peacocks have struggled against the nation's best, the team is 9-6 in all other matches. Five of the six remaining matches are against non-ranked teams.
LOOKING IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR… Upper Iowa's skid hit seven with two more road losses to nationally-ranked teams in #6 Winona State and #13 Northern State, as well as a four-set loss at MSU Moorhead last week. UIU hit .143 in their 10 sets, while the Peacocks' opponents hit .251 and claimed a 165-112 advantage in kills. The Peacocks outblocked their hosts all weekend 23-13.
Alisha VanderWoude led the Peacocks at the net with 22 kills (2.2/set) and 12 blocks (1.2/set), while four other Peacock hitters reached double figure kills in the three matches including
Chelsea Berry (17),
Haley Weepie (16),
Haley Poula (15-2 matches) and
Bethany Lovhaug (10).
Malissa LeClaire and
Carlee Ketchum set up the attack with 46 and 39 assists, respectively. Five Peacocks paced the backline defense including
Gabby Holmes (42),
Ashley Larson (40), LeClaire (38), Ketchum (35) and
Kelsey Hinrichs 28. In addition to VanderWoude's 12 blocks, Lovhaug added 9 and Poula and Berry each blocked 5.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS… Minot State suffered home losses to U-Mary, Concordia University, St. Paul and Minnesota State University, Mankato to push their current losing streak to 12 matches. The Beavers recorded 13 aces in three matches over the week. Leading MiSU during the week was Shelby Spuller, who posted 29 kills while recording three blocks. Janelle Nagy totaled 31 digs, 27 kills and 18 assists for a well-rounded performance and Hayley Swain earned seven blocks including five against Mary.
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS… U-Mary defeated Minot State while hitting .353 against the Marauders last Tuesday, but then suffered losses to Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul. UM hit .257 against Minnesota State and .084 against CSP. The team finished with 15 total blocks for the three matches and collected 154 total kills in the three matches. Lauren Randall finished with 52 kills last week and finished with a .315 hitting percentage against Minot State; her best of the week. Thayna Silva posted 44 total kills and finished with a .400 hitting percentage against the Beavers. Janell Finkbeiner collected 122 assists in the three matches and teammate Geovana Almeida finished with 41 digs for the week.
