This Week in Peacock Volleyball… UIU is opening their Northern Sun Conference schedule this week with a match on the road at #2 Concordia University, St. Paul on Thursday night at 6 p.m. and a home bout with Minnesota State University, Mankato on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Dorman Gym. The home match with the Mavericks will mark the first in a four-match home stand for Upper Iowa that will run through next Saturday. Live stats and a live webcast on computer, or through the Stretch Internet app on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple or Android TV, will be available for both matches. The home contest with MSU on Saturday will also appear on KCRG TV-9.3 in eastern Iowa.
 
Receiving Votes in AVCA Top 25… Upper Iowa's volleyball team is receiving votes in the AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 for the first time in program history thanks to their 9-0 start. The Peacocks have played in two tournaments to open their season and have been on top in 27 of the 31 sets played. UIU's biggest win of the season came this past weekend when they upset #18 Washburn University in straight sets; the Ichabods are currently ranked #22. Upper Iowa is one of eight Northern Sun Conference teams mentioned in the poll. The first seven are in the top 25 including #1 Southwest Minnesota State, #2 Concordia University, St. Paul, #7 University of Minnesota Duluth, #9 Augustana University, #11 Winona State University, #17 Wayne State College and #24 Northern State University.
 
Winter is Coming… Sophomore Anna Winter is leading the Peacock offense through the first nine matches of the season. The outside hitter has put down 110 kills, which is the 48th highest total in the nation and 5th most in the Northern Sun. Winter is averaging 3.55 kills/set while hitting .275. The Rochester, Minn. native had a season-high 20 kills in UIU's 3-0 sweep of #18 Washburn University. Winter has been named to the all-tournament team at both events this season.
 
Setting the Attack… Junior Malissa LeClaire is fueling the teams in a number of ways this season and it has led to the best start in program history. The setter has handed out 291 assists on the season, which ranks as the 53rd highest tally in the country and 8th best in the NSIC. LeClaire has also been a valuable asset on the service line picking up 14 aces; her aces per set average of .45 is the 55th best in the nation and 3rd best in the conference. The St. Michael, Minn. product is also lending her hands on defense with 109 digs.
 
Larson Leading… Upper Iowa's libero Ashley Larson has stepped up as the leader of the Peacocks for her senior season. Larson spearheads the UIU defense with is picking up 20.29 digs/set, which ranks as the fifth best average in NCAA Division II and tops among the Northern Sun. Larson's 5.48 digs/set rank 31st in the country and 2nd in the NSIC. The Sumner, Iowa native has topped the 6 digs/set average in four matches this season with her best average of 6.5 coming in a four-set win over Grand Valley State University.
 
Deep Impact… Upper Iowa has gotten great contributions across the board this season. On offense, sophomores Haley Weepie (83 kills) and Haley Poula (70), as well as junior Bethany Lovhaug (70) and Lauren Wombles (55), have come up big on the attack at the net. Defensively, Weepie has added 101 digs, while Gabby Holmes has notched 67 and Madie Meier has gotten to 51 balls. Lovhaug (.9 blocks/set), Poula (.65), Wombles (.61) and Winter (.52) have worked together to eat up space above the net and deny opposing attacks.
 
Scouting the #2 Golden Bears (7-1)… Concordia-St. Paul is the defending NCAA Division II Champion after having won the 2016 title. The championship was their eighth in the last ten seasons as the crown only eluded them in 2014 and 2015. The Golden Bears won the title seven straight times from 2007-2013. Last weekend the Golden Bears went 3-1 at the Colorado Premier Challenge. After grabbing four-set wins in each of their first three matches of the weekend, #1 CSP had their 26-match winning streak snapped by #2 SMSU in the tournament's title match. In addition to snapping the win streak on Saturday night, SMSU was also the last team to beat the Golden Bears last season in a five-setter. Concordia's streak of 26 consecutive wins was the second longest in program history, behind their 75-match win streak from 2008-10. Freshman Tori Hanson played a major role in the back row over the weekend as she paced the team with 78 digs (4.88 per set), grabbing 20+ in each of the final three matches of the weekend. Brooklyn Lewis led CSP with 61 kills (3.81 kills per set) over the weekend as she hit .255 and added eight total blocks (0.50 per set).
 
Scouting the Mavericks (6-2)… Minnesota State also went 3-1 over the weekend posting a pair of 3-0 sweeps over Minot State and Minnesota Crookston. The Mavericks topped South Dakota School of Mines, 3-1, before dropping a 3-0 decision to #23 Northern State. MSU ranks 2nd in the NSIC in service aces with 1.81 per set and 3rd in the NSIC with a .269 hitting percentage. Sophomore Ashton Lee leads the Mavericks with a team-best .419 hitting percentage including 67 kills. Lee recorded 31 kills over the weekend with six blocks. Junior Sydney Powell leads Minnesota State with a team-high 92 kills to go along with a .257 hitting percentage. Powell registered 46 kills over the weekend with 32 digs and six blocks; she was named to the Max & Erma's All-Tournament team. Freshman Alivia Garbe has totaled 63 kills this season including 37 this past weekend. Garbe has a .249 hitting percentage with 73 digs and five blocks and was also named to the Max & Erma's All-Tournament team