THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK VOLLEYBALL… Upper Iowa is set to open the 2019 campaign at the Keweenaw Volleyball Classic hosted by Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Mich. The Peacocks will take on a quartet of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools including Northern Michigan University, Lake Superior State University, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and Michigan Tech. UIU will face the Wildcats (11 a.m.) and Lakers (3 p.m.) on Friday and before closing out the opening weekend against the Rangers (3 p.m.) and Huskies (7 p.m.) on Saturday.
LIVE OPTIONS… Live stats will be available to fans for all four matches this weekend. A video broadcast of the first three matches can be viewed live on Upper Iowa Volleyball's Facebook page, while a webcast of the Peacocks final match of the weekend against Michigan Tech will be provided by the Huskies. Fans can access links to the live stats, Facebook video broadcast and webcast through the links above or at UIUPeacocks.com/Live.
WINTER IS COMING… Senior
Anna Winter has been named UIU's NSIC Player to Watch after earning her second straight All-NSIC honor in 2018. Winter led the Peacock offense last season with 404 kills and a hitting percentage of .257. As a junior, Winter was second in the NSIC in kills/set (3.9) and added 123 digs, 35 blocks, 11 aces, and eight assists. The Rochester, Minn. Native reached double figures in kills 21 times, including a season-high 26 on 85 attempts against Wayne State College, and hit or surpassed 15 kills in a match 10 times. Most impressively, Winter went without an error in a match four times and has recorded an average of 12 kills in each of those matches; she committed only 89 errors in 1,225 swings in 2018. Following the 2018-19 season, Winter was named the Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award and Butch Raymond Scholarship recipient and carries a 4.00 GPA.
RETURNING OFFENSE… Upper Iowa returns junior outside hitter
Kaitlin Niedert along with Winter. Niedert finished second on the team with 258 kills and a 2.87 per set average last season. Head Coach
Aaron Nelson, entering his ninth season at the helm, will look to
Maggie Streightiff,
Claire Milnes and
Krisha Tonne at the net as well as senior
Carlee Ketchum's hands at the setter spot to replace talent lost to graduation.
THE BACKLINE… Haley Weepie, an All-NSIC performer in 2018, returns to the backline this season with fellow senior
Gabby Holmes to pace the Peacock defense. Weepie led the team in 2018 with 4.73 digs/set while Holmes contributed 3.22 digs/set, averages that both finished in the top-20 in the league.
Kasey Brennan looks to build on her 1.96 dig/set from last season while
Charisma Herr and
Seton Vinsand both return as well.
FRESH FACES… Upper Iowa has added four new Peacocks to the huddle for the 2019 season including setter
Jaima Tonne and a trio of middle blockers in
Carlee Dove,
Sarah Johnson, and
Kylie Willis. Tonne joins her sister Krisha, a redshirt-senior, on the squad after earning all-district honors as a senior and all-conference honors three times during her time at Jesup High School. Dove was a two-time all-conference performer at Dike-New Hartford High School and earned all-district honors as a senior. Johnson, a three-time all-conference performer, set school records for most blocks in a single season (159 in 2017) and total blocks after tallying 367 in her time at Elk River High School in Minnesota. Willis was a three-time all-conference performer, an all-district honoree, and an Outstanding Player in the Conference awardee. She also earned a spot on the Iowa all-state team in 2016 and 2017 as well as the state tournament team in 2017.
NSIC PRESEASON POLL… Upper Iowa volleyball is ranked ninth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing the 2018 campaign in eighth place. Northern State University, the defending NSIC Co-Champions, is the pick of the league coaches to win the conference this season with six first place votes to tally 209 points. The Wolves are coming off a season in which they won a share of the NSIC regular season title and advanced to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, who shared the regular season title with NSU last year, are picked to finish second in the league with Concordia University, St. Paul.
A FINAL LOOK AT 2018… The Peacocks closed out last season with an 18-11 overall record, which marked the second-most wins in a season in program history following 2017's record-setting 21 wins. Against Northern Sun competition, Upper Iowa posted an 11-9 mark to notch its second-straight appearance in the exclusive NSIC Tournament that hosts only the top eight teams in the conference. The Peacocks touted one of the best defenses in the high-powered NSIC last season, posting the most digs in the conference (19.9/set), the second-best opponent hitting percentage (.164) and the sixth most blocks (2.0/set).
LOOKING AHEAD… Upper Iowa will continue non-conference action against Purdue University Northwest, University of Wisconsin Parkside, McKendree University, and Quincy University in Kenosha, Wis. on Sept. 13-14. The Peacocks will open up the conference slate the following weekend before returning home to Dorman Gymnasium on Sept. 27-28.
