Upper Iowa wrapped up their play at the UW-Parkside Tournament in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday with a pair of victories to improve to 5-3. The Peacocks defeated Northern Michigan University bright and early in a 9:30 a.m. match and then took down Lake Superior State University in the afternoon to finish the weekend with a 3-1 mark.
UIU got the 3-2 victory over NMU (20-25, 24-26, 25-17, 27-25, 19-17) after trailing two sets to none and needed extra time in sets four and five to pull off the comeback victory. The Peacock offense couldn't get anything going in the first two sets combining for 13 attack errors. After the Wildcats grabbed a 2-0 lead, the Peacocks bounced back with a commanding 8-point win in set three. UIU hit .317 and limited their errors to just 2. In the third set, Upper Iowa led by three, 20-17, and then closed the frame with a 5-0 run highlighted by a pair of
Chelsea Berry kills.
The two teams were tied at 20-20 in the fourth set when UIU began to pull away and take a 23-21 lead. The Wildcats rallied with three points on the next four serves to tie the match at 24-24. After both teams exchanged points, the Peacocks pushed through for the win, 27-25, thanks to a
Miranda LeJeune kill and an attack error by the Wildcats.
UIU trailed 15-14 after NMU scored four straight points, but the Peacocks rallied and took a 17-16 lead. The Wildcats tied the set at 17-17, but
Alisha VanderWoude got the set and match-winning kill to complete the comeback, 19-17.
VanderWoude led the offense with 14 kills, while three other Peacocks reached double digits including Berry (13), Bethany Lovhuag (12) and
Anna Winter (11).
Malissa LeClaire dished up 27 assists, while
Carlee Ketchum handed out 24.
Ashley Larson held down the back line with 17 digs and LeClaire added 14. VanderWoude knocked back 6 blocks and Lovhaug added 3 at the net.
In the afternoon match, the Peacocks dominated the Lakers by scores of 25-17, 25-9 and 25-15. Upper Iowa hit .461 in the three sets with 42 kills and only 7 attack errors. Berry led the offense with 10 kills, while VanderWoude and
Kelsey Hinrichs added 9 and 8 kills, respectively; the trio only registered 4 attack errors. After hitting .375 in the first set, the UIU offense was unstoppable in the second set recording a whopping .632 hitting percentage. Upper Iowa kept the gas pedal down in the final frame racking kills at a .424 clip. LeClaire paced the attack with 26 assists and Ketchum added 8. Larson posted 11 digs, while Lovhaug and LeJeune each had 3 blocks at the net.
After the match, Head Coach
Aaron Nelson said, "Playing 10 sets yesterday and having a quick turnaround from last night caused us to come out a bit sluggish this morning. We were able to pick up our energy in the third set and our ball control helped get our offense going. Northern Michigan outplayed us for a lot of the match, but we were able to persevere and win the big points at crucial times. This afternoon we played a complete match from start to finish. It was a great team effort this weekend."
Upper Iowa will host the Warriors of Waldorf College on Tuesday, Sept. 13, in their home opener before kicking off their Northern Sun Conference slate on Thursday, Sept. 15, against the preseason favorite Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on the newly refinished Prochaska Court.
