The Peacock volleyball team won a hard-fought, three-set match at the University of Minnesota Crookston on Saturday to improve to 15-3 overall and 6-3 in the Northern Sun. Upper Iowa claimed their fourth straight match victory posting a 4-0 record on their road trip. UIU claimed the three sets by scores of 25-22, 25-21 and 25-23 thanks to strong play as each set closed.

UIU's offense was balanced throughout the match with five Peacocks making an impact on the attack. The visitors knocked down 47 kills and hit .241, but the offense slowed a bit after the first set. In the opening frame, Upper Iowa hit .400 with 19 kills and only one attack error.

The Golden Eagles matched their guest's hitting in the first set with a .400 average of their own thanks to 16 kills and 2 errors. The difference in the set came late after UM Crookston had taken a 22-20 lead. Upper Iowa rattled off five straight points with four coming on kills and the final point came on a block by Anna Winter and Bethany Lovhaug.  

The Peacocks were cruising through the second set and held an 18-10 lead, but the home team rallied to pull within one, 21-20. UIU scored four of the next five points to secure a 2-0 lead in the match thanks to miscues on the Golden Eagles attack.  

Late in the third set, the home team had a 20-18 lead but Upper Iowa went on a 4-0 run with the help of two solo blocks by Lovhaug to take a 22-20 lead. The Golden Eagles tied the score at 22-22 and once again the Peacocks had the answer. UIU scored three of the final four points including the final two on kills by Winter and Lovhaug.  

After the match Head Coach Aaron Nelson said, "We have to give a lot of credit to Minnesota Crookston for playing well today and pushing us from the beginning. We were a little slow to get going as this was the final match of our back-to-back, two longest road trips in the conference. The girls showed resilience and toughness to go 4-0 during this trip. Today we were solid at times and then we executed well when we needed it in crunch time. We're very proud of how we played these past two weeks!"  

Haley Poula finished with a team-high 12 kills, while Haley Weepie added 10. Lovhaug tallied 9 kills, while Lauren Wombles added 7 and Winter had 6. Malissa LeClaire recorded 37 assists and 12 digs. Ashley Larson registered 16 digs, while Weepie chipped in 12 digs. Lovhaug had six blocks and Poula denied 3 attacks at the net.  

The Peacocks return home for their next four matches. UIU will host St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota Duluth on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13-14.