THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK VOLLEYBALL... The Peacocks are on the road for a second straight weekend early in their 2016 season.  Upper Iowa will travel to Kenosha, Wis. to face four NCAA Division II teams at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Tournament. UIU will start their run through the tournament on Friday against the host Rangers at 2 p.m. and Michigan Technological University at 6:30 p.m.  On Saturday, the Peacocks will take on Northern Michigan University at 9:30 a.m. and Lake Superior State University at 2 p.m. Live stats and webcast are only available on Court 1 and the Peacocks only time on that court is against UW-Parkside on Friday.

LOOKING BACK TO THE CAPITAL CLASSIC... Upper Iowa split their four matches at the Capital Classic in Springfield, Ill. hosted by the University of Illinois-Springfield.  The Peacocks opened with a tightly-contested, five-set loss to West Alabama and earned wins over the host Prairie Stars and William Jewell College.  UIU had 23 aces in the four matches (5.7/match) and Alisha VanderWoude and Ashley Larson were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

GETTING INTO THE NUMBERS... VanderWoude led the offense with 44 kills (2.93/set) and a .398 hitting percentage; the senior had a career-high 17 kills against William Jewell. Larson paced the defense with 62 digs over the weekend (4.13/set). Malissa LeClaire controlled the offensive attack handing out 115 assists (7.67/set) including a career-high 49 against William Jewell. After VanderWoude's 44 kills, the UIU offense was very balanced between Chelsea Berry (30), Hailey Poula (25), Anna Winter (23), Bethany Lovhaug (22) and Kelsey Hinrichs (16).

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE RANGERS... UW-Parkside is currently 1-3 after opening the season with a 3-0 loss to Winona State University and a 1-2 record at the Flyer Festival hosted by Lewis University.  The Rangers lost to Augustana University 3-2 and Southwest Minnesota State University 3-0, but did pick up a 3-1 win over Central Washington University.  
 
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE HUSKIES... Michigan Tech middle blocker Lauren Emmert was named to the all-tournament team at the Flyer Festival last weekend. Emmert led the front line with 17 total blocks on the weekend and added 16 kills offensively. The Huskies are 1-3 on the season having lost to Lewis 3-0, Southwest Minnesota State 3-1 and Augustana 3-2.  MTU got their victory against Central Washington 3-0.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE WILDCATS... Northern Michigan has started the season with a 3-2 record.  The Wildcats swept Southwestern Oklahoma State University and defeated Eastern New Mexico University 3-2 before suffering their first loss of the season at the hands of the University of West Texas A&M 3-0.  NMU split the final day of their run at the Lady Buff Classic in Canyon, Texas with a 3-1 victory over McKendree University and a 3-2 loss to Adams State University.  Bridget Bussell led the offense with 51 kills, while Madison Whitehead added 47 and Kayla Chosa racked 46. Jami Hogeboom runs the offense and handed out 182 assists and Megan Dahl picked up 83 digs.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE LAKERS... Lake Superior State University went 1-3 at the Ferris State Invitational in Big Rapids, Mich. on their opening weekend.  The Lakers got their win over West Virginia State University 3-1, but dropped the other three match in straight sets to Winona State, the University of Minnesota Crookston and the University of Minnesota Duluth. LSSU hangs their hat on defense holding opponents to a .188 hitting percentage over the opening weekend.