The Peacock volleyball team improved their record against non-AVCA Top 25 teams to 11-6 this season with their second straight win completing a weekend sweep in the Northern Sun Conference. Upper Iowa defeated the University of Mary in straight sets, but needed a major comeback in set one and near-perfect hitting in set two to fuel the 3-0 victory. With the win, UIU improves to 11-14 overall and 5-11 in the conference, while U-Mary falls to 9-16 overall and 4-12 in the NSIC.
The Marauders raced out to an early 16-4 lead in the opening set and it seemed that anything in front of Lauren Randall and Thayna Silva was going straight to the wood floor on UIU's side. But Head Coach
Aaron Nelson took a pair of time outs to make adjustements. The Peacocks came out of their break with a 16-3 run to take a one-point advantage, 20-19. The teams remained close at 22-22, but UIU scored three of the four final points to steal set one, 25-23.
It was the Peacocks' turn to open with a flurry in the second set. The home team pushed out to a 12-6 early lead thanks to nine kills in the early going. Upper Iowa continued to press and extended their lead to eight, 20-12. The Marauders put up a fight using a 6-2 run to cut the gap to four, but UIU scored the final three points for the set victory. When the dust settled on the frame, the Peacocks had hit .531 in the set with 17 kills and no attack errors.
UIU took a quick 8-4 lead on the back of six Marauder miscues, but U-Mary found their stride and tied the set at 12-12. Still tied at 17-17, Upper Iowa put the set and match away with an 8-2 run highlighted by three kills off the right hand of
Chelsea Berry.
The Peacocks hit .292 for the match with 36 kills and only 8 attack errors, while U-Mary hit .142 with 42 kills and 26 attack errors. Leading the way for UIU was freshman
Haley Weepie, who recorded 11 kills, while
Bethany Lovhaug scored 7 kills.
Malissa LeClaire handed out 19 assists and
Carlee Ketchum posted 13 assists. Lovhaug also added 5 blocks, while
Kelsey Hinrichs and
Ashley Larson manned the back line with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.
Upper Iowa is headed out on the road this weekend at the University of Minnesota Crookston on Friday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m., and Bemidji State University on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 4 p.m.
