The Peacock volleyball team won their fifth straight match on Friday night in Fayette. Upper Iowa defeated St. Cloud State University 3-1 to improve to 16-3 overall and 7-3 in the Northern Sun. UIU dominated the first set, but the Huskies rallied back in the second set to tie the match at 1-1. After the break, the Peacocks secured the match with wins in sets three and four thanks to big digs and blocks on defense.
 
With the win on Friday night, the Peacocks have tied the high mark for wins in a season with 16. The team posted a 16-18 record in 2009 and a 16-13 record in 2012, which marks the only winning season since volleyball began in the Iowa Conference in 1982.
 
Upper Iowa dominated the first set by a 25-14 score thanks to 11 kills and only 3 attack errors. The Huskies struggled on offense in the first set handing the Peacocks 9 points on attack errors alone. In the second set, St. Cloud State outhit Upper Iowa 15-13 in kills and took advantage of some miscues on serve receive and defense by the Peacocks. With the 25-19 win, SCSU tied the match at 1-1 heading into the intermission.
 
Bethany Lovhaug and Haley Poula owned the third set for the home team combining for 9 kills. The lead in the set kept changing hands, but Upper Iowa took the final run for a 25-21 win. The Peacocks trailed 17-14 when Head Coach Aaron Nelson took a timeout to regroup his squad. Upper Iowa stormed back and used an 11-4 run to claim the third set and get ahead 2-1 in the match. The serves of Lauren Wombles and Malissa LeClaire set the Peacocks up for success.
 
The Peacocks took over early in the fourth set jumping out to a 9-2 lead fueled by three Poula kills. The Huskies rallied and closed the gap to four points on a few occasions, but never got any closer. UIU posted the 25-18 win in the fourth set to claim the match 3-1.
 
For the match, the Peacocks hit .217 with 51 kills and just 13 errors, while forcing the Huskies into 27 attack errors and a .096 hitting percentage with 45 kills. Three sophomores led the Peacock offense on the attack with Poula and Anna Winter securing 12 kills and Haley Weepie knocked down 11. UIU's junior middles combined for 14 with Lovhaug recording 8 and Wombles notching 6 without and error.
 
Malissa LeClaire handed out 41 assists and picked up 15 digs, while Gabby Holmes led the back line with 20 digs. Ashley Larson got her hands on 18 digs and now sits just 37 digs away from 1,000 in her Peacock career. Madie Meier made an impact on defense as well with 14 digs. Lovhaug and Poula both denied 4 attacks apiece at the net.
 
Upper Iowa will return to Dorman Gym on Saturday for an afternoon date with the #5 Bulldogs of the University of Minnesota Duluth at 2 p.m.