This Weekend in Peacock Volleyball... Upper Iowa is in North Dakota this Friday and Saturday for their longest road trip in the Northern Sun Conference. UIU is coming off two close losses to nationally-ranked teams, No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State University and No. 18 Wayne State College, and a sweep of Augustana University as they face the University of Mary (Bismarck, N.D.) and Minot State University (Minot, N.D.) this weekend. Live stats and webcasts will be available all weekend through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live and both matches will be streamed live on the Stretch Internet App for fans with Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple or Android televisions.
A Quick Look Back at Last Week... Upper Iowa was just six points away from sweeping the home weekend against No. 18 Wayne State and Augustana last Friday and Saturday in Fayette. The Peacocks dominated the match with the Vikings and lost three tight sets to the Wildcats 26-24, 27-25, 27-25. UIU hit .304 for the weekend with 91 kills, while holding their guests to a .273 percentage and 61 kills. The Peacock's downfall on Friday night was 34 attack errors including 14 Wildcat blocks. Malissa LeClaire passed the 2,500 assist mark in her career at UIU; she now has 2,571 after 77 (12.8/set) this weekend. Lauren Wombles led the offense with 27 kills (4.5/set), while Anna Winter added 24 (4/set) and Kaitlyn Niedert chipped in 18 (3/set). Haley Weepie led a balanced defense on the back line with 33 digs; Gabby Holmes added 31, while LeClaire got to 28 digs and Madi Meier picked up 24. Bethany Lovhaug and Wombles combined for 11 blocks at the net.
Lucky 13... Senior setter Malissa LeClaire, who wears No. 13, surpassed the 2,500 career-assist milestone last weekend and is currently ranked 5th in the NSIC with 10.6 assists/set. LeClaire is also the team leader in service aces and is ranked 2nd in the Northern Sun with .48 aces/set.
We're Diggin' It... Junior defenders Haley Weepie and Gabby Holmes have both worn the libero jersey this season and both have been named NSIC Defensive Players of the Week for their efforts. Upper Iowa defenders have posted 19.7 digs/set this season, which ranks 8th in NCAA Division II and 1st in the conference. The strong defense correlates to UIU's 40.7 attacks/set, which also rank 8th in the nation and tops in the Northern Sun. Weepie is 7th in the NSIC with 4.3 digs/set, while Holmes is recording the 11th most in the conference with 4.1/set.
Top 20 Hits... The Peacocks boast two of the better hitters in the conference in junior Anna Winter and sophomore Kaitlyn Niedert. Winter is averaging the 8th most kills/set with 3.6, while Niedert is 18th in the NSIC with 2.9/set.
Denied Entry... Opposing hitters face a tough block in UIU's Bethany Lovhaug. The senior middle is ranked 3rd in the Northern Sun with 1.15 blocks/set.
About the Marauders (From UMary Sports Information)... The Marauders dropped both of their matches last weekend on the road. The first game was against Bemidji State. The Marauders had a hot start, winning their first set in the last six matches, but BSU came back and won the next three sets to beat the Marauders 3-1. UMary struggled in the following match, facing a Minnesota Crookston who had yet to win a conference match. The Golden Eagles took control in all three sets to sweep the Marauders. Sydney Murphy continues to lead the Marauders in assists game in and game out. Murphy ranks 12th in the NSIC in assists averaging 7.94 assists per set. The Marauders rank 6th as a team in service aces in the NSIC.
About the Beavers (From MiSU Sports Information)... Riding a three-match winning streak, the Minot State volleyball team are coming off a week in which it defeated Dickinson State at home and then posted back-to-back victories at Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State. It marked the first time since the 2014 season that Minot State has won back-to-back road conference matches. Shelby Spuller and Hayley Swain played pivotal roles in helping the Beavers to a 3-0 record last week. Spuller averaged 4.67 kills per match and had a .299 attack percentage, while Swain averaged 2.58 kills per set and posted a .558 attack percentage in the three matches.
