Upper Iowa remained undefeated with two more non-conference wins at the Hampton Inn Invitational in Kenosha, Wis. The Peacocks topped the McKendree University Bearcats and Quincy University Hawks each by a final score of 3-0. The wins push UIU's win streak to eight games and non-conference streak over the last three years to 24-1.
During the match against Quincy, senior Anna Winter became just the fifth Peacock in Upper Iowa's Division II era to reach 1,000 career kills. Winter came into Saturday needing 22 kills to hit her milestone and finished with 28 total.
At the end of the tournament, seniors Carlee Ketchum and Anna Winter were named to the All-Tournament Team. Ketchum paced Upper Iowa to a .309 hitting percentage with 131 assists (10.9/set) while adding 12 kills, 37 digs (3.08/set), and seven blocks. Winter knocked down 54 kills (4.5/set) on .353 hitting, added 19 digs, turned away 10 balls at the net, and served five aces.
Match One: Upper Iowa 3, McKendree 0
TURNING POINT... Upper Iowa took a 2-0 lead with 25-15 and 25-21 wins in the opening sets, but the Bearcats weren't ready to give in just yet. The teams battled neck and neck in the third frame until a late 4-0 run highlighted by two Winter kills and a double block from
Sarah Johnson and
Carlee Ketchum gave the Peacocks a 22-18 lead. Prior to that point, the set was tied on 13 occasions and no team led by more than two points. UIU finished off the match with two more kills from Winter and a Bearcat error.
PEACOCK OF THE GAME...
- Anna Winter hit .400 or better for the second time this season while tallying up 17 kills, including 11 in the third set alone, to lead all attackers
STAT OF THE GAME...
- Both teams registered the same amount of kills (44) and aces (2) during the match but the scoring difference maker was Upper Iowa's 7-2 advantage in total blocks and ability to force McKendree into 14 more attacking errors
Match Two: Upper Iowa 3, Quincy 0
TURNING POINT... Upper Iowa used a pair of 6-0 runs early in the second frame to put the icing on their 25-19 set one win and set the tone for the rest of the match. The Peacocks used two aces from Johnson, three kills, and a Quincy error to score the first six points of the set and then tacked on another unanswered six with four kills and two errors en route to UIU's first double-digit lead of the match.
PEACOCK OF THE GAME...
- Sarah Johnson hit a season-high .500 for seven kills and added three aces and three blocks
STAT OF THE GAME...
- Upper Iowa held the advantage in every major stat category including kills (51:32), aces (6:1), total blocks (7:3), assists (47:31), and digs (73:57)
QUOTABLE... "It was a great weekend for our team. We had a couple of individual milestones that were reached by two of our seniors. We are proud of their accomplishments but we get to celebrate them as a team knowing it takes all of us playing well to get there. We didn't play our best on Saturday but we were able find ways to create points and win anyway, which gives us an indication that we are continuing to grow. We were tested by a couple of teams that did things to make us uncomfortable at times and we responded well. We have a few things to work on but overall it was a great non-conference season all the way around for us." -Head Coach Aaron Nelson
UP NEXT... The Peacocks open up the 2019 conference schedule on the road against No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth and (RV) St. Cloud State University on Sept. 20-21.
