The No. 23 Upper Iowa volleyball team posted a 3-0 sweep of the University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles on Friday evening's home opener. The Peacocks outscored the Golden Eagles 25-21, 25-12, and 25-16 to improve to 9-2 overall and 1-2 in the Northern Sun while UMC fell to 2-9 overall and 0-3 against conference foes.
The Peacocks were slow out of the gate and quickly found themselves trailing 11-4 in the opening set but a kill by Maggie Streightiff sparked a 13-5 run, including by a pair of 5-0 spurts, to give Upper Iowa its first lead of the night at 17-16. The teams continued to trade points before the home team scored the final four points of the set thanks to three kills from Anna Winter and a ball handling error by the visitors.
In the second and third set, Upper Iowa got out to commanding leads early and stayed ahead the entire way. The Peacocks hit .333 in the second frame while holding the Golden Eagles to a .032 clip. Anna Winter and Kaitlin Niedert knocked down six and four kills, respectively, to lead the UIU offense in their strongest set. In the third and final set, Head Coach Aaron Nelson was able to run the entire bench into the game. Kylie Willis and Krisha Tonne each got their hands on a pair of kills, while Jaima Tonne handed out two assists from the setter position.
TURNING POINTS... The Peacocks had to play catch-up in the first set to earn their first lead of the match at 17-16, but the Golden Eagles kept pace with the home team till the set was tied at 21-all. Upper Iowa then scored the final four points of the frame and carried that momentum into the second set all the way out to a commanding 20-8 lead. UMC would score four of the next six points but UIU again responded with a big 19-3 run to close out set two ahead 25-12 and capture a 16-3 advantage in set three before posting a 25-16 win to seal the victory.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME...
- Kaitlin Niedert powered down eight kills with just one error on 10 swings to hit an impressive .700 clip on the day
- Sarah Johnson was close behind and hit .636 during the match, knocking down seven kills without an error in 11 attempts
- Haley Weepie, who was honored prior to the match for eclipising 1,000 career digs earlier this season, led all defenders on both sides of the net with 19 digs
STAT OF THE GAME...
- Upper Iowa racked up 44 kills to hit .259 as a team, while Minnesota Crookston came up with 26 kills and a .080 hitting percentage
QUOTABLES...
UP NEXT... Upper Iowa will host Bemidji State University on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
