The No. 25 Upper Iowa volleyball team suffered their first loss of the season to the hands of No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth on Friday evening in Duluth, Minn. The Bulldogs won all three sets by scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-20 to start the conference season 1-0 while Upper Iowa fell to 0-1 Both teams now sit at 8-1 overall.
The Peacocks put up a good fight against the Bulldogs but the home team was able to get ahead early and maintain their lead all throughout the match. Despite the loss, Upper Iowa's defense held the Bulldogs to their third-lowest hitting percentage of the season while the offense scored at least 20 points in each set, a feat that no other opponent has accomplished in UMD's victories.
PEACOCK OF THE GAME...
- Sarah Johnson knocked down five kills and went without an error in 14 swings to lead the Peacock attackers with a .357 hitting percentage. Johnson also registered a game-high five blocks
STAT OF THE GAME...
- Minnesota Duluth outpaced Upper Iowa by 23 kills with a 53-30 margin but the Peacocks took better care of the ball by only committing nine errors in 104 attempts compared to the Bulldogs' 20 mishaps in 130 swings
UP NEXT... Upper Iowa will round out the first weekend of NSIC action against No. 19 St. Cloud State University on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Huskies (9-0) bounced back from a first set loss to win 3-1 against (RV) Winona State University on Friday evening.
