THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK VOLLEYBALL... Upper Iowa will look to build on the momentum of last Saturday afternoon's sweep of St. Cloud State University when they host the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota Crookston on Friday and the Beavers of Bemidji State University on Saturday. Friday's match begins at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on KCRG 9.3, while Saturday's contest will begin at 3 p.m. Both matches will have live stats and a webcast available if fans can't make it to Dorman Gym.
THE RICH GET RICHER... The Northern Sun Conference is the top conference 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 eleven (last week the seven were all inside the top fourteen). The Northern Sun teams in the top 25 are #1 Concordia-St. Paul, #2 Minnesota Duluth, #4 Southwest Minnesota State, #7 Winona State, #8 Augustana, #9 Wayne State and #11 Northern State. The seven nationally-ranked NSIC schools are a combined 81-11 this season and 28-7 in NSIC matches. Upper Iowa has 9 of their 20 conference tilts scheduled against these seven ranked opponents.
LAST WEEK FOR THE PEACOCKS… Upper Iowa took a set from #9 Winona State at home on Tuesday and pushed #2 Minnesota Duluth in sets two and three prior to putting it all together on Saturday with a road sweep of St. Cloud State. The win over the Huskies was the first NSIC win of the season for UIU, who had faced three top-ten teams in their first four conference matches. UIU held their opponents to a .147 hitting percentage for the week. Alisha VanderWoude and Chelsea Berry each recorded 16 kills, while Haley Poula added 15, Kelsey Hinrichs notched 14 and Lauren Wombles chipped in 13. Malissa LeClaire and Carlee Ketchum kept the attack on pace with 46 and 42 assists, respectively. Ashley Larson (4.5 digs/set) and Wombles (1.0 blocks/set) stood out defensively for the Peacocks.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES… Minnesota Crookston went 2-1 last week with a 3-0 win over Bemidji State and a big 3-2 win over Minnesota State. The Golden Eagles hit .195 for the week, but recorded 24 service aces in three matches. UMC averaged 14.2 digs per set on the week and tallied 1.18 blocks per set. Maggie Perrel averaged 4.27 kills per set and hit .203 on the week, she also tallied 2.09 digs per set. Ali Schueler tallied 3.82 digs per set on the week, while Sierra Trost averaged 10.2 assists and 2.64 digs per set.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS… Bemidji State all three of its matches last week falling to Minnesota Crookston, Minnesota State and #1 Concordia-St. Paul. All three matches went in straight sets; the Beavers last set win came on Sept. 15 against St. Cloud State when Bemdji State pulled off the 3-2 victory. Amanda Tronick led the team with 22 kills and tallied 16 kills against Minnesota State while hitting at a .394 efficiency. Hailey Kauling and Jessica Reega led the Beavers' defense with five blocks during the weekend while Reega tallied four blocks against CSP. Jessica Yost led the team with 19 digs, while Tronick added 16 and Freshman Emma Hallmann had 14.
