The Peacock volleyball team (2-0) got their season off to a great start on Friday with a pair of wins over Quincy University, 3-0, and Grand Valley State University, 3-1, at the Ferris State Invitational in Big Rapids, Mich. Upper Iowa limited their miscues all day registering just 28 attack errors in seven sets. The team also played well on defense picking up over 20 digs per set to give their offense more opportunities.
 
In the team's first match of the day, the Peacocks notched double-digit kills in all three sets leading to their sweep of the Quincy Hawks. UIU posted 15 kills in the first set and hit .306 prior to recording 12 kills in both the second and third sets. Upper Iowa stifled the Hawks attack holding Quincy's attack to a mere .068 hitting percentage. UIU got the sweep thanks to scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-12.
 
The Peacocks used a balanced attack paced by junior setter Malissa LeClaire, who handed out 22 assists. Haley Weepie and Bethany Lovhaug each knocked down 8 kills, while Haley Poula added 7 and Anna Winter tallied 6. On the back line, Ashley Larson led the defense with 19 digs, while Weepie added 13.
 
Upper Iowa returned to the court for their second match of the day and lined up against the Grand Valley State Lakers. The Peacocks stormed out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to dominating performances in the first two sets posting wins by scores of 25-16 and 25-14. UIU racked up 22 kills with only 5 attack errors during the first two sets to get out to their early lead. GVSU rallied to claim set three 25-10 after slowing UIU's attack to just 6 kills with 8 errors. UIU bounced back in the fourth set to end the match with a 25-20 win on 14 kills.
 
Winter led the way for Upper Iowa's offense with 14 kills and a .324 hitting percentage, while fellow sophomore Poula also reached double figure kills with 10. LeClaire registered 29 assists as she fed her hitters. Larson was everywhere on defense getting her hands on 26 digs, while Weepie tallied 15 and Gabby Holmes added 12.
 
After the match, Head Coach Aaron Nelson said, "The wins were a total team effort from top to bottom today. It started with our passing and serving as we won the first contact battle all day. Our solid passing put a lot of pressure on our opponents to try and catch up to our attackers and our block did a great job of creating points. The kids in the middle took away space to allow our defenders to do a great job keeping the ball off our floor. It was a great way to start our season."
 
The Peacocks will wrap up their time in Big Rapids, Mich. on Saturday with two more matches at 12 and 4 p.m. Upper Iowa will go up against Northern Michigan University in the opening match and Davenport University in the final match of the day.