Upper Iowa scored their second straight Northern Sun Conference victory in straight sets with a 3-0 win over the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota Crookston on Friday night in Fayette. The Peacocks hit .228 for the match thanks to 35 kills and only 12 attack errors. UMC struggled in their attack committing 25 errors to hit only .080 in the three sets. UIU improved to 8-7 overall and 2-4 in the NSIC, while the Golden Eagles dropped to 6-8 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
Haley Poula recorded a pair of kills in the first set and then took over the Peacock offense with 5 kills in the second and 4 more in the third for an 11-kill night. The freshman right side hitter registered hit at a .400 clip and added 3 blocks.
Chelsea Berry knocked down 7 kills including 5 in the first set, while
Anna Winter and
Kelsey Hinrichs each chipped in 5.
Malissa LeClaire and
Carlee Ketchum each handed out 13 assists while setting up the offense.
Ashley Larson notched 17 digs on the back line, while Poula and
Lauren Wombles denied 3 balls apiece at the net.
Upper Iowa tried to run away in the first set with an 8-1 run that gave the home team a 14-7 lead, but the Golden Eagles answered with a 7-0 run to climb all the way back into a tie, 14-14. The Peacocks were able to slowly pull away and
Chelsea Berry used her right hand to score three of the final four points for the home team on the way to a 25-22 win in set one. In the second set, the Peacock offense was impressive with 10 kills and only a single attack error. The effecient attack led to a huge 13-3 run for Upper Iowa that broke an 8-8 tie and pushed the home team's lead back to 21-11. Upper Iowa maintained their advantage until they secured set two 25-16 and took a 2-0 lead on their guests. The UIU defense was up to the challenge in the second set holding the Golden Eagles to a -0.054 hitting percentage with 11 errors. Upper Iowa needed more time to break free from their guests in the third and final set, but when they did, they secured five of the final six points to post a 25-21 win and end the match. Six different Peacocks had kills in the final set; in addition to Poula's 4 kills, Wombles put down 3 shots, while Winter and Henrichs each added 2 kills.
The Beavers of Bemidji State University will be in Fayette on Saturday for a match with the Peacocks at 3 p.m. BSU opened the weekend with a loss at #7 Winona State University on Friday.
