The Peacocks hosted the #1 Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul in Dorman Gym on Thursday night. The visitors improved to 9-0 on the season and continued their impressive play with their eighth sweep; CSP has lost just one set of the 28 they have competed in during the early going. Upper Iowa falls to 6-4 overall with the loss in the Northern Sun Conference opener for both squads.
Upper Iowa came out strong in front of a loud, "Whiteout" crowd at Prochaska Court. The Peacocks got off to an early 7-5 lead and matched their guests to the midway point of the first set. The Golden Bears broke free thanks to an 11-2 run that put UIU in a 23-13 hole. A 6-1 run by Upper Iowa allowed the home team to scratch back into the set, but Emma Lange gave Concordia-St. Paul the win with a kill.
The Golden Bears dominated the second set thanks in large part to an opening 10-2 run behind the serving of Anna Schlaak. Upper Iowa never rallied in the middle frame and dropped the set 25-10.
CSP controlled much of the third period as well; the road team built a wall at the net and scored points in bunches to establish a 21-11 lead. Upper Iowa dug down and fought in the third set closing the gap to 24-17 with a 6-3 run, but Schlaak picked up the final kill for the Golden Bears to end the match.
Concordia-St. Paul's offense was balanced between four attackers; Riley Hanson, Lange and Anna Pioske all had 10 kills apiece while Schlaak added 9. Kasey Williams paced the attack with 35 assists. Schlaak (12 digs), Pioske (11), Emily McDonough (11) and Williams (10) all shared the defensive digs. CSP had 10 team blocks on the night with Shelby Seurer (7) and Lange (6) earning the lionshare.
Alisha VanderWoude tallied 7 kills, while
Lauren Wombles had 5 and
Chelsea Berry and
Haley Poula each accounted for 4.
Malissa LeClaire registered 15 assists and
Carlee Ketchum added 8 assists and 12 digs.
The Peacocks will get back on the floor on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 4 p.m. Upper Iowa will face off against the Mavericks of Minnesota State University, Mankato at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minn.
