The No. 19 Upper Iowa volleyball team snapped their two-game skid with a 3-1 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory over Minnesota State University Moorhead. The Peacocks improve to 13-5 overall and 5-5 in the conference. The Dragons fall to 8-10 on the season and 3-7 against NSIC opponents.
With University of Sioux Falls and Augustana University also picking up wins on Friday night, the Peacocks remain in a three-way tie for ninth place in NSIC standings.
Upper Iowa hit .293 as a unit with 68 kills and 20 errors in 164 total attempts. The Peacocks claimed strong advantages in kills (68-45), digs (81-64) and assists (62-42), while MSUM had an edge in blocks (9-4) and aces (6-3).
HOW IT HAPPENED...
- Upper Iowa came out of the gate hitting .400 in the first set with 21 kills, while holding MSUM to a .174 hitting clip and just 10 kills. The Peacocks maintained control throughout the set to post a 25-19 win.
- The second frame was more competitive with a tied score on 12 occasions and no team ever leading by more than three. The Dragons prevailed with a 25-22 win after scoring the final three points of the set.
- The Peacocks came out of intermission on fire to capture an 8-1 lead on the home team fueled by four kills from Anna Winter. MSUM was able to pull back within a pair with five straight points, but Upper Iowa stood steady and never surrendered the lead on the way to a 25-16 win.
- The final set was much like the third where UIU got out to an early lead and cruised, however the Dragons made things interesting and captured their first lead of the frame, 20-19. The teams battled back-and-forth and each traded three points before Upper Iowa closed the door with the final three to win 25-23.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME...
- Anna Winter powered down 22 kills to lead all attackers, extending her streak of games with double figure kills to 31 dating back to Sept. 29, 2018. The senior hit .274 in her 10th career game with 20+ kills, and also added five digs and two blocks.
- Carlee Ketchum dished out a career-high 58 assists and knocked down all four of her attack attempts. The senior also tallied 15 digs and an ace
- Three other Peacocks finished with double-digit digs including Charisma Herr (18), Haley Weepie (16), and Gabby Holmes (13)
- Sarah Johnson hit .409 to record 12 kills, while Maggie Streightiff added a dozen of her own
STAT OF THE GAME...
- Upper Iowa averaged over 20.0 digs per set for the second time this season and first time against a conference opponent with 81 total digs. The Peacocks also averaged 15.5 assists per set (62 total), the second highest average of the 2019 campaign and best mark of the conference slate.
UP NEXT... Upper Iowa heads to Aberdeen, S.D. to face No. 6 Northern State University on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Wolves swept No. 20 Winona State University on Friday night.
