THIS WEEK IN UIU VOLLEYBALL… The Peacocks close out their current four-match home stand with a pair of Northern Sun Conference contests on Prochaska Court in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday. The matches are part of UIU's Hall of Fame Weekend featuring seven home games between the women and men's soccer, football and volleyball teams. Upper Iowa is coming off a split at home last weekend against a pair of nationally-ranked opponents. After dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 16 St. Cloud State University, the Peacocks upset the No. 23 University of Minnesota Duluth 3-1 fueled by 16 kills from Emily Kono. UIU enters the weekend with a 13-5 record overall and a 6-3 mark in the NSIC. The team will line up against the University of Sioux Falls (11-6, 6-3 NSIC) on Friday at 6 p.m. and then take on No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State University (15-2, 7-2 NSIC) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
DIG PINK… Friday's contest has been deemed Upper Iowa's Dig Pink night. Upper Iowa will focus on Breast Cancer Awareness throughout the match and also hold a 50/50 raffle with the proceeds going to the Side-Out Foundation. The Side-Out Foundation helps people with breast cancer regain control of their lives. Each Peacock and Cougar will be playing for a loved one touched by breast cancer.
 
LIVE OPTIONS... Both NSIC matches will have multiple options for following live if fans can't get to Fayette for the action. Both matches will have live stats and a NSIC Network webcast available through links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. The matches can also be streamed through most mobile devices at NSICNetwork.com/UIUPeacocks or through the NSIC Network app on Roku and Amazon Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android televisions. Friday's match with the Cougars will air at approximately 9:30 p.m. on KCRG 9.2 across Eastern Iowa, while Saturday's match against the Mustangs will air live on Eastern Iowa's CW 9.3.
 
DIGITAL GAMEDAY PROGRAM… Upper Iowa will not be printing gameday programs this season. Fans can access the interactive and digital gameday program at any time at UIUPeacocks.com/Programs. The digital programs are available to fans both at our games and those at home watching the action. QR Codes will be located around the stadium to scan with your cell phone's camera that will link you directly to that game's specific digital gameday program.
  
IN THE RANKINGS… UIU continues to be ranked in the top-five of several categories within the Northern Sun Conference and in the top-35 across all NCAA Division II. In terms of per set averages, UIU is second in the NSIC in digs (15.56), fourth in kills (13.63) and aces (1.84) and fifth in assists (12.37). Nationally, the Peacocks are 22nd in kills/set and 33rd in assists/set. Upper Iowa's season totals are among the best in the NSIC including the fourth-best marks of 859 kills, 116 aces, and 980 digs, as well as the fifth-best total of 779 assists. While seventh-best in the NSIC, the team's .243 hitting percentage ranks 35th in the nation.
 
PEACOCK LEADERS… Upper Iowa features a balanced offense that begins with solid serve receive and passing off the back line. UIU's libero Charisma Herr leads the Peacocks' effort on defense with 4.46 digs/set, which ranks fifth in the conference. Herr has also posted the fourth-most service aces in the NSIC with 25 on the year. Zoe Semelroth has been a consistent force for the Peacocks in the middle hitting .327 on the season with 159 kills. With the addition of her 0.79 blocks/set, the Tripoli, Iowa product is averaging 3.31 points/set, which ranks 15th in the Northern Sun.
 
SCOUTING THE COUGARS… As a team, the Cougars are hitting .274 on the year with 835 kills (13.3/set). Individually, USF is led on offense by Averey Yaksich with 277 kills on the season so far. Yaksich, who will become the sixth player in USF history to reach the 800-kill mark this upcoming weekend, is averaging 4.4 kills per set and is hitting .287 percent. Three-time NSIC Setter of the Week Krista Goerger leads the Cougars with 642 set assists so far. Goerger, who surpassed 3,000 assists this past weekend at home, averages 10.19 assists per set. From the service line, Nicole Jacobson and Madison Wassink are tied for a team-high 24 service aces for the Cougars. On defense, TiaRose Nagami leads USF with 215 digs on the season so far (3.52 per set). At the net, Jordan Kuper has racked up 63 blocks for the Cougars, including 14 solo blocks. 
 
SCOUTING THE NO. 10 MUSTANGS… After a pair of home sweeps against Minot State and UMary, the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team (15-2) moved up one spot to No. 10 in the sixth regular season American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Division II weekly poll released on Monday afternoon. The Mustangs opened the season with 11 straight victories, the second-longest streak to start a season in program history. Angela Young leads the Mustangs with 240 kills, with Meg Schmidt contributing 201 kills on a .319 hitting percentage. The defense is anchored by Payton Hjerleid, who leads the team with 240 digs and Katelyn Nichols, who leads the Mustangs with 64 blocks. 
 
UP NEXT… Upper Iowa will head west next weekend for two Northern Sun Conference matches. The Peacocks will line up against Wayne State College on Friday at 6 p.m. in Wayne, Nebraska and Augustana University on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D.