THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK VOLLEYBALL… The No. 19 Upper Iowa volleyball team continues their busy week of action with a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches on the road. The Peacocks will first travel to Moorhead, Minn. to face Minnesota State University Moorhead, beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday evening. Upper Iowa will then take the court against No. 6 Northern State University on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Aberdeen, S.D. Live options for both matches are available through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/live.
RANKED AMONG THE BEST… The Peacocks grabbed the No. 19 spot in this week's AVCA Division II Top-25 poll thanks to a program-best 342 votes. Upper Iowa has been nationally ranked for five consecutive polls now and joins seven other NSIC teams in the top-25, including six in the top-12.
EVERY MATCH COUNTS… With eight NSIC teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25 Poll and two more receiving votes outside the poll, the Peacocks are regularly challenging the best teams in NCAA Division II week in and week out. As only the top eight teams in conference standings qualify for the NSIC Tournament during the postseason, every match counts and is seemingly a must-win for the Peacocks. Upper Iowa currently sits in a three-way tie for 9
th place with University of Sioux Falls and Augustana University.
EARLIER THIS WEEK... The Peacock volleyball team lined up against the Minnesota State University-Mankato Mavericks, who received votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll, on Tuesday evening in Dorman Gymnasium. The Mavericks came into the match with lots of momentum having just swept two nationally-ranked opponents over the weekend, and claimed a 3-1 victory thanks to set scores of 25-22, 25-19, 18-25, and 25-18. Minnesota State took a tight win in set one before hitting .407 in the second frame to go up 2-0 in the match. Upper Iowa then battled back with a third set victory highlighted by a 8-1 run to close things out after the frame was tied at 17-all. In the fourth set, the Peacocks got into a deep hole early and were never able to recover. Upper Iowa struggled on both ends of the serve, finishing the game with 10 service errors on their end and allowing the Mavericks to score nine points off their serve. The Peacocks were led by
Kaitlin Niedert (12 kills, .300, 2 blocks) and
Sarah Johnson (10 kills, .318, 3 blocks, 2 digs, 1 block) during the effort.
SCOUTING MSU MOORHEAD… The Dragons (8-9, 3-6 NSIC) go into the weekend having won their mid-week matchup against University of Mary, 3-1. MSUM's other conference wins came against Bemidji State University and University of Minnesota Crookston, and their losses have all been to the hands of opponents ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA. The Dragons currently rank 12
th in the NSIC in both hitting percentage (.188) and opponent percentage (.205), and average 10.65 kills, 9.7 assists, 13.75 digs, 2.04 blocks, and 1.42 aces per set. Sarah Petrbok leads the offense with 2.22 kills per set, Brooke Walthall averages a team-high 3.58 digs per set, and Kaylyn Jenkins leads the squad with .98 blocks per set. The offense runs primarily through Amber Bretwisch with 5.39 assists per set.
SCOUTING NORTHERN STATE… The Wolves (15-2, 8-1 NSIC) are currently on a 6-game win streak highlighted by three top-25 victories over Sioux Falls, University of Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State University. Northern State is currently ranked 1
st in the NSIC and 2
nd in the nation with a .296 hitting percentage, and averages 14.6 kills, 13.5 assists, 15.8 digs, 2.2 blocks, and 1.2 aces per set. Laura Snyder leads the team with 260 kills, averaging 4.19 per set with a .352 attack percentage. Peyton Ellingson hits a team-best .382 on the year and averages 1.25 blocks per set to lead the team. Ashley Rozell averages a national top-10 mark of 11.79 assists per set, and Jaiden Langlie paces the backline with 4.50 digs per set as well as the team at the service line with 20 aces. Northern State will host No. 20 Winona State University on Friday evening.
UP NEXT… The Peacocks return home to host Minot State University and University of Mary on Prochaska Court.
