THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK VOLLEYBALL… Upper Iowa will close out their current four-match home stand with a pair of matches against two of the best in the Northern Sun and the nation. The Peacocks welcome the Cougars of the University of Sioux Falls on Friday night and the #2 Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University on Saturday afternoon. USF is just a few spots behind UIU in the AVCA Poll in the "receiving votes" section. The Peacocks and Cougars are both 7-4 in the NSIC and tied for 6th place with two other teams, while SMSU is 10-1 in the conference and sits in a three-way tie at the top of the league.
 
REWRITING HISTORY... Upper Iowa's 16 wins in 2017 tie the high mark for wins for the program since the Iowa Conference began sponsoring the sport 36 years ago; the team has now reached 16 wins three times. The first time was in 2009 under the direction of Head Coach Shari Robertson when the Peacocks posted a 16-18 mark. More recently Head Coach Aaron Nelson guided the Peacocks to a 16-13 record in 2012, which followed a 15-15 season in 2011. The Iowa Conference began sponsoring volleyball as a women's sport beginning with the 1982 season and Upper Iowa posted a 2-32 record in their first year. Prior to the 2005 season, when UIU competed as an NCAA DII Independent, the program only registered a double-digit win total four times over a 23-season span. Since moving up to NCAA Division II and subsequently joining the Northern Sun Conference before the 2006 season, the Peacocks have earned 10 or more wins in 9 of the 13 seasons.
 
AVCA TOP 25 POLL... Upper Iowa's volleyball team once again gained votes in the AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 this week and is now up to 47 points in this week's edition listed as the second team receiving votes. Upper Iowa is one of nine Northern Sun Conference teams mentioned in the poll including seven in the top 20 and one more receiving votes.
 
MILLENIAL LIFE... Senior libero Ashley Larson is nearing a milestone in her third year with Upper Iowa. The Sumner, Iowa product leads the Peacock defense this season with 342 digs (6th NSIC) and 4.9 digs/set (6th NSIC) and now has 971 digs in her career at UIU. As a team, the Peacocks are eleventh in the country and first in the conference in digs/set with 19.5 which allows the offense more opportunities to the tune of 40.1 attacks/set (9th NCAA/1st NSIC).
 
TWIN TOWERS... Junior Bethany Lovhaug and sophomore Haley Poula have been teaming up to present a huge block to opposing hitters. Lovhaug leads the team and Northern Sun Conference at 1.24 (24th NCAA/1st NSIC), while Poula is close behind with .76 (22nd NSIC). Junior Lauren Wombles and sophomore Anna Winter are adding .53 and .46 blocks/set as well to give the Peacocks a 1.9 average/set.
 
LEADING THE COUGARS... Makenna Rockeman leads the cougar attack with 3.49 kills/set, while Bria Brafnecht is also knocking down her fair share with 3.07/set. Megan Hamstad sets up the Cougar hitters with 9.8 assists/set and adds 1.8 digs defensively. On the back line, Janelle Lam is picking up 4.3 digs/set to pace the defense. Lexi Scott is posting 1.1 blocks/set at the net.
 
LEADING THE #2 MUSTANGS... Taylor Reiss is registering an impressive 4.7 kills/set and Kaylee Burmeister is also putting down 3.5 kills each frame to lead SMSU's potent offense. Megan Larson is handing out 12.7 assists per set and is also getting her hands on 2.7/set. Burmeister leads the team on defense with 3.5 digs/set, while Brooke Borchardt has recorded .9 blocks/set on the season.