Six points. That was the difference on Friday night between the Peacock volleyball team and the No. 18 Wildcats of Wayne State College (11-3, 4-2 NSIC). Upper Iowa (8-6, 1-5 NSIC) lost in three sets, but took each set into extra points losing by scores of 26-24, 27-25 and 27-25.
 
In UIU's last two matches against No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State University and No. 18 Wayne State, five of the six sets lost have come by two points. In the other two sets played at SMSU last Saturday, the Peacocks won one and lost one. The Peacocks have been close enough to victory in each of those sets they could taste it only to come up on the short end of a narrow decision. In the Northern Sun Conference, the measure for error is so slim that the slightest detail can sway a set and eventually the match.
 
On Friday night, the Peacocks knocked down 54 kills, an average of 18 per set, which is 6 higher than their season average. However, Upper Iowa also committed 34 attack errors to lower their hitting percentage to .105 for the match. While the Wayne State block, which came up with 14 denials, was a major factor, UIU gave away 20 attacks on their own.  In contrast, the Wildcats came away from the match with 34 kills, but only committed 10 attack errors in the three sets.
 
The contrast of UIU's kill total with WSC's efficiency on the attack led to three very tightly contested sets.
 
In the first set, the teams battled back and forth for much of the frame until the Wildcats began to break away and led 23-18. UIU bounced back and tied the set at 24-24 on Lauren Wombles' sixth kill of the set. Wayne State got a block to go up one and an attack error on UIU ended the set 26-24.
 
Upper Iowa trailed 15-9 midway through the second set, but rallied to take a 20-18 lead after an 11-3 run that was fueled by four kills from Wombles and a pair from Kaitlyn Niedert. The lead continued to change hands until the score was tied at 25-25. A service ace and a Wildcat block ended the set 27-25 and gave the visitors a 2-0 lead.
 
The Peacocks found themselves trailing early in the third set 10-5, but tied the match quickly at 10-10. Sideout after sideout led to a tie score at 23-23. Attack errors by the Wildcats gave UIU set points at 24-23 and 25-24, but WSC scored the final three points of the night on a kill, a block and an error to win 27-25.
 
Wombles led the offense with a career-high 17 kills in the match while hitting .400 from the middle. Anna Winter added 12 kills. Malissa LeClaire handed out 47 assists and moved over the 2,500-mark for career assists at UIU. The senior setter added 17 digs and a pair of aces. Haley Weepie put her hands on 21 digs, while Madi Meier had 18, Gabby Holmes recorded 15 and Kasey Brennan chipped in 11 digs.
 
Upper Iowa will get right back onto Prochaska Court in Dorman Gym on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Peacocks will welcome the Vikings of Augustana University for the NSIC match up.