Tonight in Peacock Volleyball… Upper Iowa will take the floor tonight in Marshall, Minn. to compete in their first Northern Sun Conference Tournament. The Peacocks have been close before finishing in ninth place in the nation's top volleyball conference, but this season Head Coach Aaron Nelson and the Peacocks have left their mark. UIU enters the NSIC Tournament with a 21-8 record overall and a 12-8 mark in conference matches earning the seventh-seed in the tournament. UIU will take on the fourth-ranked and second-seeded Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University (25-3, 17-3 NSIC) in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
 
The NSIC Tournament… With UIU and SMSU lining up in the 2v7 match, three other quarterfinals will begin across the conference at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. No. 1 Concordia University, St. Paul earned the one-seed and will host No. 21 Wayne State, the eight-seed in the tournament. No. 9 Northern State University claimed the three-seed and will host No. 16 Augustana University in Aberdeen, S.D. The last quarterfinal match sees the No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth hosting No. 14 Winona State University in the 4v5 match. The semifinals and finals of the tournament will be hosted by the highest-seeded team remaining after tonight on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 18-19.
 
AVCA Top 25… All eight of the NSIC Tournament qualifiers are in the most recent AVCA poll and have been for the last 10 weeks. Seven of the schools are in the top 25 and Upper Iowa is just two spots out receiving 54 points in the vote. Two weeks ago, the Peacocks cracked into the rankings at No. 25, but have dropped one spot in each of the last two weeks despite registering a 3-1 record.
 
All-NSIC Performers… The volleyball court at Southwest Minnesota State will not have a shortage of All-NSIC performers tonight. Sophomore Anna Winter is Upper Iowa's representative on the All-NSIC second team, while the Mustangs boast Taylor Reiss, the NSIC's Offensive Player of the Year and All-NSIC first team selection, three other All-NSIC performers and a second-team honoree as well. The three All-NSIC first team players in addition to Reiss are Brooke Borchardt, Kaylee Burmeister and Megan Larson, while Sarina Smith earned a place on the second team.
 
Last Time vs. the Mustangs… Upper Iowa handed out the first punch by winning the first set 25-19 in the season's only meeting which came in Fayette.The Mustangs then bounced back with three straight set wins to claime the match 3-1. During the fourth set, senior libero Ashley Larson reached a milestone for her UIU three-year career with her 1,000th dig at Upper Iowa. The Sumner, Iowa product registered 24 digs on the afternoon. 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.
 
Historic Season Continues… Upper Iowa's 21 wins in 2017 set a new high mark for wins for the program since the Iowa Conference began sponsoring the sport 36 years ago; the team had reached 16 wins twice. 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. This season the team is 3-8 against teams in the AVCA Top 25 or receiving votes and is 18-0 against the rest of their schedule.