Upper Iowa handed out the first punch in today's Northern Sun Conference battle with the #2 Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University, but the nationally ranked Mustangs were able to escape Fayette with a 3-1 victory to improve to 20-1 overall and 12-1 in the conference. After the loss, the Peacocks fall to 17-5 overall and 8-5 in the NSIC. UIU is 2-5 in matches against any teams receiving votes or ranked in the AVCA Top 25 this season.
 
Senior libero Ashley Larson reached a milestone for her UIU three-year career. During the fourth set, Larson got her hands on 9 digs sending her over the 1,000-dig plateau at Upper Iowa. The Sumner, Iowa product registered 24 on the afternoon pushing her new Peacock career total to 1,005.
 
Defense was the name of the game for the Peacocks on Saturday. Upper Iowa pushed the Mustangs into some uncharacteristic errors forcing their guests to pick up 29 in the match. SMSU hit .165 in the four sets, but powered through behind 16 kills from Kaylee Burmeister and 15 from Taylor Reiss.
 
Upper Iowa had 68 digs in the match and added 10 team blocks as well.
 
The Peacock offense struggled after the first set though finishing with just 33 kills and a .056 hitting percentage. In the first frame, UIU recorded 12 kills and a .229 percentage, but could only muster 21 kills in the remaining three sets and never hit above .050 in the final three sets.
 
The sophomore trio of Haley Weepie (9), Anna Winter (8) and Haley Poula (7) combined for 24 kills, but needed 98 swings as the Mustang defense kept the ball in play. Malissa LeClaire handed out 26 assists, while Bethany Lovahug and Lauren Wombles each had 5 blocks and Poula and Winter added 4 and 3, respectively.
 
UIU will hit the road next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27-28, with matches against a pair of nationally-ranked opponents. The Peacocks will take on the #20 Wildcats of Wayne State College on Friday at 6 p.m. and then battle the #16 Vikings of Augustana University on Saturday at 2 p.m.