THIS WEEK IN UIU VOLLEYBALL… The Peacocks return to Prochaska Court in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday for the first of two weekends straight at home. Upper Iowa is coming off a long two-week, five-match road trip that saw the team post a 4-1 record. Heading into the weekend's home matches UIU has a 12-4 record overall and a 5-2 mark in the Northern Sun. The Peacocks welcome No. 16 St. Cloud State University (11-4, 6-1 NSIC) on Friday at 6 p.m. and the No. 23 University of Minnesota Duluth (10-5, 3-4 NSIC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Huskies are tied for second in the conference, while the Peacocks are tied for fifth and the Bulldogs
 
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 No. 16 Huskies will air at approximately 9:30 p.m. on KCRG 9.2 across Eastern Iowa, while Saturday's match will air live at 2 p.m. 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.
 
FOCUSING ON THE WIN STREAK… Upper Iowa enters the weekend having won four-straight, three-set matches on the road. During the impressive run, Kaitlin Niedert has led the offense with 43 kills (3.58/set) and a .374 hitting percentage on the outside. As a team, the Peacocks hit .295 in the four wins and held their opponents to a .094 clip. In addition to scoring on offense, UIU recorded 36 (3/set) aces while only committing 9 errors in serve receive. The Peacock defense has been strong as well registering 178 digs (14.83/set). Herr has paced the back line with 48 digs (4/set), but five more players are averaging more than a dig/set during the streak.
 
IN THE RANKINGS… UIU continues to be ranked in the top-five of several categories within the Northern Sun Conference and in the top-30 across all NCAA Division II. In terms of per set averages, UIU is second in the NSIC in digs (16.16), third in kills (13.96) and aces (1.89) and fourth in assists (12.62). Nationally, the Peacocks are 14th in kills/set and 24th in assists/set. Upper Iowa's season totals are among the best in the NSIC including the third-best marks of 768 kills and 104 aces, as well as the fourth-best totals of 889 digs and 694 assists. The team's total kills and assists rank 29th and 33rd in NCAA Division II, respectively. While fifth-best in the NSIC, the team's .255 hitting percentage ranks 22nd in the nation.
 
PEACOCK LEADERS… Upper Iowa features a balanced offense that begins with solid serve receive and passing off the back line. Herr, UIU's libero, has led that effort with 4.71 digs/set, which ranks fourth in the conference. In addition to Herr, Madelyn Rettler (2.8/set), Sarah Stevelinck (2.57/set), Nicole Pozorski (2.26/set) and Kaci Beesecker (1.33/set) have stepped up to keep the ball off the ground on UIU's side of the net. Pozorski has orchestrated UIU's offense this season and keeps defenses guessing on where the attack is coming from; Upper Iowa's setter is averaging 9.83 assists/set. Offensively, the Peacocks have five players that are averaging above two kills/set including Rettler (2.93/set), Niedert (2.76/set), Maggie Streightiff (2.62/set), Zoe Semelroth (2.62/set) and Carlee Dove (2.08/set).
 
SCOUTING THE NO. 16 HUSKIES… The nationally-ranked Huskies are led by Linsey Rachel, who is within striking distance of joining the 1,000/1,000 Club for kills and digs. The outside currently has 995 kills and 983 digs in her career. St. Cloud State is hitting .254 for the year with 14 kills/set. Kenzie Foley is averaging 3.65 kills/set, while Rachel is knocking down 3.2/set and Phebie Rossi and Bella Erne each average more than two per set. Maddy Torve is handing out 11.59 assists/set. Six Huskies are averaging over two digs/set, while Rossi, Allison Naughton and Erne lead the way defensively at the net combining for two-plus blocks per set.
 
SCOUTING THE NO. 23 BULLDOGS… Don't let the record fool you… the Bulldogs may be 3-4 in the Northern Sun, but those four losses have come to No. 5 Wayne State College (3-1), Augustana University, No. 5 Southwest Minnesota State University (3-2) and No. 4 Concordia University, St. Paul (3-2). UMD is averaging 12.8 kills/set with a .203 hitting percentage for the year, but has allowed only 10.8 kills/set and a .156 hitting percentage to their opponents. Cianna Selbitschka is averaging 4.17 kills/set to lead the offense. Kate Berg and Grace Daak add 2.24 and 2.21 kills per set, while Madison Gordon is setting up the attack with 10.4 assists/set. Daak is averaging 1.19 blocks/set at the net, and Sydney Lanoue is leading the defense on the back line with 4.52 digs/set.
 
UP NEXT… Next weekend, the Peacocks remain at home with two more matches in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium. Upper Iowa will host the Cougars of the University of Sioux Falls on Friday at 6 p.m. and the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday at 5 p.m.