Upper Iowa's volleyball season came to an end this afternoon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Peacocks lost a 3-1 decision to the No. 8 Warriors of Winona State University in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Northern Sun Conference Volleyball Tournament at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
The second-seeded Warriors controlled the action in the first, second and fourth sets to advance to the NSIC Tournament semifinals and improve to 27-3 on the year. WSU hit .230 in the match with 54 kills, while holding UIU to a .152 hitting percentage and 43 kills. WSU posted wins by scores of 25-16, 25-15 and 25-19.
 
During the third set, the Peacocks found themselves just five points from a three-set loss after three quick points from Winona State. Trailing 20-15, the Peacocks found their stride and rattled off eight straight points taking a 23-20 lead. The 8-0 run came on the serve of Madelyn Rettler and was fueled by back-to-back blocks and kills from three different Peacocks.
 
Upper Iowa was able to push the match to a fourth set with a kill from Zoe Semelroth and another block from Kaitlin Niedert and Kylie Willis winning the frame 25-22.
 
For the match, Semelroth led the team with 10 kills while hitting .381 with just two errors, while Maggie Streightiff added nine kills and .292 hitting percentage with two errors. Niedert chipped in seven kills, while Nicole Pozorski and Willis tallied six apiece. Pozorski set up the attack with 32 assists, while Charisma Herr and Rettler defended the back line with 18 and 10 digs, respectively. UIU played big at the net recording 15 team blocks led by Willis' seven, while Niedert was close behind with six and Pozorski and Semelroth each had five.
 
Megan Flom, the NSIC Player of the Year, registered a match-high 18 kills, while Madison Larson added 15. Bre Maloney handed out 39 assists, while Becca Pagel put her hands on 22 digs. Maloney and Flom each had six blocks in the match, while Sidney Paulson chipped in five.
 
With the 20 wins this season, the Peacocks have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success over the last four seasons. Upper Iowa is 80-39 since the beginning of the 2017 season averaging 20 wins and 12 Northern Sun Conference wins during that span. This past season's 13 NSIC victories set a new program-high for conference wins in a season.