Upper Iowa volleyball is ranked eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll released Tuesday. The Peacocks are coming off the best season in program history after finishing the 2017 campaign in seventh place in the Northern Sun.
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Concordia University, St. Paul Golden is the favorite in the league for the 15
th straight year. The Golden Bears are coming off a season in which they won the NSIC regular season title and their ninth NCAA National Championship in the last eleven years. CSP received all 15 first place votes to tally 225 points.
Southwest Minnesota State, which won the NSIC Tournament Championship last year, was picked second as the Mustangs received 210 points and the other first place vote (coaches cannot vote for own team). Minnesota Duluth was picked third in the poll with 194 points while Northern State was fourth with 176 points.
Upper Iowa wrapped their 2017 season with a first-ever NSIC Tournament appearance. The program soared to new heights last season, as their 21 wins 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. In 2017, UIU went 3-9 against teams in the AVCA Top 25 or receiving votes and 18-0 against the rest of their schedule. The Peacocks received votes in the AVCA Top 25 in every week of the season except the first two getting into the rankings at No. 25 for a week and finishing the season as the fourth-place team receiving votes in the poll, or the defacto No. 29 team in the nation.
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Setter
Malissa LeClaire is a NSIC Player to Watch and will pace the Peacock hitters once again this season. The St. Michael, Minn. product handed out 1,029 assists (9.53/set) for the year and got her hands on 346 digs (3.2/set), which was the third highest total on the squad. LeClaire led the team in service aces with 44 including knocking down a season-high 4 in three different road matches. Over her three seasons, the senior has posted 2,018 assists, 764 digs and 73 aces.
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Along with LeClaire, the Peacocks return a load of talent. Junior outside
Anna Winter earned All-NSIC second team honors in 2017 after leading the offense with 345 kills and a 3.19 per set average. Winter hit .249 and only committed 64 errors on her 1,129 swings. UIU also welcomes back senior middle
Bethany Lovhaug, who led the NSIC in blocks with 120 and blocks per set with 1.25; Lovhaug posted 208 kills as well.
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Junior outside
Haley Weepie put down 282 kills and 371 digs, both the second-most for the team. Another junior outside,
Haley Poula, added 246 kills and 75 blocks, while senior middle
Lauren Wombles added 194 kills and 61 blocks. On the backline, UIU returns junior
Gabby Holmes and graduate student
Madi Meier, who accounted for 239 and 194 digs, respectively.
Upper Iowa kicks off the season at the Ferris State Invitational in Big Rapids, Mich.. The Peacocks will take on the host Bulldogs, Lake Superior State, Clarion and Mercyhurst on Aug. 23-25.
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The 2018 NSIC regular season champion will be determined by the 20-game conference schedule. The top eight teams will play in the single elimination NSIC Volleyball Tournament on November 6, 9-10. Quarterfinals will be hosted on campus by the top four seeds while the semifinals and championship will be hosted by the highest remaining seed following the first round of play.