THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK VOLLEYBALL… With three weeks left in the regular season, the Peacock volleyball team is making their run toward the postseason over the next week and a half. Upper Iowa will play five matches in ten days with four of those contests coming on the hardwood of Prochaska Court in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium. UIU will host the No. 10 Warriors of Winona State University on Thursday, Oct. 28 before traveling to Mankato, Minn. to line up against the Mavericks of Minnesota State University, Mankato on Saturday, Oct. 30. The Peacocks will close out their extended weekend of matches with a Tuesday, Nov. 2, home date against the No. 7 Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul.  
 
LIVE OPTIONS... All three NSIC matches will have multiple options for following live if fans can't get to Fayette or Mankato to catch the action in person. 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. UIU's contests with Winona State and Concordia-St. Paul will air live on KCRG 9.2 across eastern Iowa.
 
DIGITAL GAMEDAY PROGRAM… Upper Iowa is not be printing gameday programs; 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.
 
DEEP DIVE ON UPPER IOWA…  The Peacocks come into the weekend having lost two matches in a row for just the second time in 2021. Prior to the pair of road losses at No. 8 Wayne State College and Augustana University, the Peacocks had won seven of their last eight including upsets of No. 23 University of Minnesota Duluth and No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State University and a sweep of the University of Sioux Falls. For the season, UIU is hitting .229 with 13.4 kills/set, while holding their opponents to a .187 percentage and 11.4 kills/set. Upper Iowa is posting 15.4 digs/set and 1.5 blocks/set as well. Offensively, Upper Iowa boasts four players averaging over two kills per set including Maggie Streightiff (2.64), Kaitlin Niedert (2.59), Zoe Semelroth (2.54) and Madelyn Rettler (2.32). Nicole Pozorski 8.95 assists/set) and Jaima Tonne (4.21) have orchestrated the offense from the setter position, while adding defense as well; Pozorski is averaging 2.17 digs/set and 0.3 blocks/set. On the back line, Charisma Herr and Rettler have led the way with 4.33 and 2.81 digs/set averages, while Sarah Stevelinck adds 2.25 per set as a defensive specialist. At the net, Semelroth has recorded 54 blocks (0.71/set), while Willis's 38 blocks equate a 0.69/set average. Upper Iowa has made a difference at the service line as well recording 59 more aces than their opponents (149-90) with Herr leading the way with a 0.4/set average.
 
SCOUTING THE NO. 10 WARRIORS (from WSU Athletic Communications)…  The Warriors (19-3, 10-3 NSIC) moved up two spots to No. 10 in the current American Volleyball Coaches Association poll this week after earning two hard-fought victories on the road last weekend. Winona State defeated Augustana 3-1, and then went on to take down No. 8 Wayne State in five sets. Winona State is coming off one of the most impressive weekends in the NSIC this year, being the only team to defeat both Augustana and Wayne State on the road in the same weekend. The Warriors are led offensively by Megan Flom, who is averaging 3.97 kills per set at a hitting percentage of .427, both good for top-five in the NSIC. Bre Maloney's 11.23 assists per set have her at second in the NSIC individual standings. Defensively, Becca Pagel leads the Warriors and the NSIC with 5.08 digs per set.
 
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS (from MSU Athletic Communications)…  Like the Peacocks, the Mavericks dropped a pair of matches on the road last weekend. Minnesota State lost both matches by 3-0 counts at No. 13 Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls. MSU's defense is led by senior defensive specialist Mara Quam who has recorded 341 digs (4.43/s) on the season. With these digs Quam is fifth in the NSIC. Junior outside hitter Mariah Edgington leads the way in kills with 197 (2.66/s) this season. Freshman middle blocker Kiya Durant has recorded 80.0 blocks (1.25/s). With the 90 blocks Durant is first in the NSIC as a freshman.
 
SCOUTING THE NO. 7 GOLDEN BEARS (from CSP Athletic Communications)…  The Golden Bears dropped to No. 7 in the AVCA Top-25 after splitting with Sioux Falls and #14 Southwest Minnesota State on the road last weekend. The Golden Bears have gotten production throughout their lineup as seven different players that rank in the top-20 in the league in at least one statistical category this season. Jasmine Mulvihill, Sophia Andersen and Emma Schmidt all rank inside the top-20 in kills per set as Mulvihill sits in ninth with 3.60 kills per set while Andersen sits in 14th with 3.00 and Schmidt sits in 18th with 2.65. Kennedy Brady and Andersen also rank near the top in hitting percentage as she ranks 10th at .327 while Andersen ranks 19th at .269. Brady also ranks fifth in blocks per set at 1.09. Tori Hanson ranks fourth in digs per set at 4.68 and 20th in service aces per set at 0.31. Ellie Veldman ranks ninth in assists per set at 9.06.
 
LOOKING AHEAD… The Peacocks will close out their home schedule the weekend of Nov. 5-6 with home matches against the University of Mary on Friday night and Minot State University on Saturday afternoon. UIU will celebrate their seniors prior to the match on Nov. 6.