Upper Iowa posted their third top-25 upset of the season on Tuesday night in Fayette. The Peacocks swept the No. 10 Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul. Upper Iowa's back line defense led the way against Concordia-St. Paul posting set scores of 26-24, 25-22 and 25-17. The win puts Upper Iowa into a five-way tie for fifth-place in the powerhouse Northern Sun Conference with four matches to play.
 
Both teams knocked down 38 kills in the match, but the Peacocks were a bit more efficient on the night hitting .200 in their three sets while the Golden Bears hit .189 with one more attack error. The difference in the match may have come at the service line. Upper Iowa was aggressive with 11 aces, while Concordia-St. Paul was unable to get a serve to the ground.
 
In the first set, Upper Iowa used a 12-5 run to break a 7-7 tie and push out to a seven-point advantage. The run was fueled by a pair of kills and an ace from Zoe Semelroth and left the home team ahead 19-12. The Golden Bears answered and tied the match at 22-22 thanks to a 10-3 run of their own. The visitors had the first set point of the night, but an attack error tied the score at 24-24 and UIU took advantage scoring the final two points to win 26-24.
 
Concordia-St. Paul jumped out to a 9-6 lead in set two, but Upper Iowa rallied to take a 16-12 lead with a quick 10-3 outburst highlighted by two Kaitlin Niedert kills and back-to-back aces from Nicole Pozorski. The teams exchanged the next 16 points of the set with neither side gaining more than one at a time as Upper Iowa secured a 25-22 win on a Niedert kill.
 
The Golden Bears once again held an early lead, 8-6, in the third set, but Upper Iowa bounced back with a dominant 12-4 run that left the home team leading 18-12. The big run came on the back of two service aces from Rettler and another from Pozorski, as well as two kills from Semelroth and one by Niedert. The Golden Bears clawed back to within four, 21-17, but UIU scored the final four points including two kills from Rettler, an ace from Kaci Beesecker and a block from Semelroth and Pozorski.
 
Niedert led the offense with nine kills, while Semelroth and Kylie Willis each added six. Pozorski set up the attack with 31 assists and chipped in three aces and five digs. Charisma Herr put her hands on 15 digs, while Madelyn Rettler notched nine digs, five kills and five aces.
 
The Peacocks will host a pair of Northern Sun Conference games this Friday and Saturday to wrap up their home schedule for the 2021 season. UIU will recognize their seniors on Friday night following the match with the University of Mary; first serve is set for 6 p.m. Upper Iowa will then host Minot State University on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.