The No. 22 Upper Iowa volleyball team earned their first victory over a ranked opponent with a 3-2 win over No. 19 University of Sioux Falls on the road Saturday afternoon. The Peacocks took the first two sets with a pair of 25-21 scores but the Cougars rallied their way back into the match by outscoring Upper Iowa 25-19 and 25-22 in the third and fourth. In the decisive fifth set, USF set up match point with a 14-13 lead but the Peacocks closed the door with a Carlee Ketchum kill and back-to-back blocks from the duo of Maggie Streightiff and Claire Milnes to secure the victory with a 16-14 fifth set win.
Upper Iowa is now 2-1 this season in five-set matches against opponents either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Poll. With the win, Upper Iowa improves to 11-3 (3-3 NSIC) at the halfway point of the regular season. Sioux Falls falls to 11-3 (3-3 NSIC) on the year.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED...Â
- After trailing for a majority of the first set, the Peacocks rallied behind a late 7-1 run to go up 1-0 in the match. The momentum carried into the second set with Upper Iowa scoring the first four points of the game before pulling away for an 18-10 lead. USF mounted a comeback with a 7-1 spurt to bring the score to 19-17, but the Peacocks were able to outlast the late effort for a 2-0 lead heading into the break.
- A pair of 5-0 USF runs served as the turning points in the third set that went to the home team despite a late rally by the Peacocks. Upper Iowa then took a 19-18 lead in the fourth, however the Cougars were determined to force the fifth set and proved so by scoring seven of the last 10 points.Â
- Things looked promising for the Peacocks in the fifth as they had a 13-11 advantage following 11 lead changes in the set, but once again the Cougars didn't go away easily. USF scored three straight to set up match point at 14-13 but a kill by Carlee Ketchum saved the day as the set was tied up for the 12th time. Ketchum then went back to the service line for the Peacocks and a block by Maggie Streightiff and Claire Milnes put UIU up 15-14, needing just one more point to win it all. The Cougars turned to outside hitter Kasandra Springer once more in hopes of tying it up but were again denied by the strong hands of Streightiff and Milnes as the Peacocks put an end to the match.Â
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME...
STAT OF THE GAME...
- In a fairly even match all around, the Cougars held a slight advantage in kills (65-61), digs (89-79), and aces (8-5). However, Upper Iowa had an edge in the block category with 10 compared to USF's 8. Those two blocks ended up being the difference maker for the Peacocks as back-to-back denials from Maggie Streightiff and Claire Milnes were what sealed the win in the fifth set.Â
QUOTABLE... "We knew it was going to be another brutally tough weekend on the road against two teams playing very well. We played a lot of great volleyball on both nights. On Friday, we had leads in all three sets and just got a little tentative at times. Today we played very well in the first two sets but couldn't quite respond when Sioux Falls raised the level in sets 3 and 4. It was fitting to go to five sets and past 15 to win. It was a gutty effort in a tough environment, and a huge win for us."
-Head Coach Aaron Nelson
UP NEXT...  Upper Iowa returns to Fayette for a three-game home stand. The Peacocks will host (RV) Augustana University and No. 15 Wayne State College on Oct. 11-12 before playing their first Tuesday match of the year on Oct. 15 against Minnesota State University-Mankato. Both Augustana and Wayne State split this weekend's matches while Minnesota State dropped a pair.Â
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