This Week in Peacock Volleyball… Upper Iowa will host a WHITEOUT for the No. 2 Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul on Thursday at 6 p.m. and then travel to face the Mavericks of Minnesota State University, Mankato on Saturday at 7 p.m.Live stats and webcasts will be available all weekend through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. In addition, the match on Thursday night will be broadcast live on KCRG-TV 9.2 and streamed live on the Stretch Internet App for fans with Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple or Android televisions.
"Holmes" Cooking… Gabby Holmes was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week after anchoring the back line with 80 digs (5.71/set) and paced Upper Iowa's defense, which was clicking over the weekend as the team averaged 19.43 digs/set. The junior libero tallied 16 digs against Wheeling Jesuit and added 18 more after lining up with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Holmes stepped up on Saturday with 21 digs against the University of Indianapolis and 25 in the final match with Quincy. The Algona, Iowa product is averaging 4.81 digs/set for the season.
Non-Conference Success… Upper Iowa is coming off a perfect 4-0 weekend at the UIndy Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind. After UIU defeated No. 12 WJU, the team then took down the UW-Parkside and the UIndy in a pair of 3-0 sweeps. UIU defeated Quincy 3-1 in the final match to complete the two-day sweep. After the final non-conference matches of the season, Upper Iowa is now 16-1 over the last two seasons in non-conference matches with the only loss coming this season at No. 21 Ferris State University. The Bulldogs jumped to No. 4 in the nation after that weekend.
Movin' On Up... The American Volleyball Coaches Association has released their weekly regular season Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll and Upper Iowa is one of seven Northern Sun Conference schools in the rankings or receiving votes. The Peacocks are receiving votes for the 14th straight time and are knocking on the door in the No. 27 spot. Upper Iowa joins six other Northern Sun Conference members in the preseason poll including the top two ranked programs in the nation; No. 2 Concordia University, St. Paul, No. 3 Northern State University, No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth, No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State University and No. 19 Wayne State College. Augustana University is also receiving votes.
Peacock Leaders... Anna Winter leads a balanced scoring attack for UIU with 86 kills (3.19/set), while Haley Poula adds 62, Bethany Lovhaug and Lauren Wombles tallies 53 apiece, Haley Weepie has 49 and Kaitlin Niedert chips in 36 including 20 against Quincy. Malissa LeClaire is averaging 10.7 assists/set for the year after racking up 164 this past weekend. Defensively, Holmes leads the back line with 130 digs (4.8/set), while LeClaire and Weepie have their hands on 92 and 91 digs, respectively. At the net, Lovhaug leads the group of blockers with 35 and Poula is close behind with 22.
Scouting the No. 2 Golden Bears... (From CSPBears.com) The Golden Bears have gone 3-1 in each of their weekend tournaments with losses to No. 21 Ferris State and Texas A&M Commerce. CSP currently leads the nation in assists per set at 14.32 while also ranking second in kills per set at 15.07. Elizabeth Mohr has played a big role in that success as her 13.04 assists per set also rank first. Concordia also ranks in the top-30 in hitting percentage as the team ranks 28th with a .259 hitting percentage.Brooklyn Lewis has led the way offensively as her 4.21 kills per set rank 20th in the nation and her .370 hitting percentage ranks 64th. Tori Hanson also ranks inside the top-50 in a pair of categories as her 14 service aces and 146 total digs both rank 40th overall.
Scouting the Mavericks... (From MSUMavericks.com) The Mavericks enter the week with a 7-1 overall record after dropping the opening match of the Westminster Invitational, 3-0 to Truman State before winning the final three matches against Lubbock Christian, Fort Lewis and Westminster. Morgan Olson leads the Mavericks with a team best 122 kills and a .459 attacking percentage. Mara Quam has compiled 118 digs to begin the year, and Micayla Porter leads the teams in assists with 173. As a team this season, Minnesota State has posted 14.6 kills per set in comparison to its opponents 10.2. Additionally, the Mavericks add 13.9 assists per set and 13.3 digs per set.
