Upper Iowa's volleyball team had a slow start in tonight's Northern Sun Conference match at No. 6 Concordia University, St. Paul, but battled toe-to-toe with the conference's preseason favorite in sets two and three. The Golden Bears took the match in three sets by scores of 25-11, 25-23 and 25-23 to improve to 9-2 overall and 3-0 in the Northern Sun. After the loss, UIU falls to 8-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
 
The Peacocks got in an early 6-1 hole in the first set, but bounced back with a 5-2 run to pull within three, 10-7. Concordia-St. Paul forced Upper Iowa into six attack errors after UIU pulled within three and raced away to a dominating 25-11 win.
 
After registering eight kills and eight attack errors in the first set, the visitors found their offense in the second and third sets. Over the final two frames, Upper Iowa knocked down 32 kills with just 11 attack errors almost matching Concordia-St. Paul's 33 kills and eight attack errors. Both teams hit over .400 in the third and final set.
 
In the second set, Upper Iowa came out on fire storming out to a 12-3 lead on the nationally-ranked Golden Bears. The early outburst was fueled by kills from five different Peacocks. Concordia-St. Paul began to rally, but Upper Iowa still led 15-10 after a kill by Maggie Streightiff. The home team kept the pressure on clawing back into the set, but a kill from Kaitlin Niedert put UIU ahead 21-19 and a few plays later a Sarah Stevelinck service ace put UIU ahead 23-21. Unfortunately, Concordia-St. Paul scored the final four points to secure the second set with a come-from-behind win.
 
In the third and final set, the Peacocks carried the lead for the majority of the frame. Late in the match, UIU led 18-15 after a CSP service error and a Streightiff kill. After a 4-0 run by the Golden Bears, Upper Iowa answered with back-to-back points thanks to kills from Kylie Willis and Zoe Semelroth. Semelroth added two more kills as the set wound down including one to tie the score at 23-23. In the end, Jasmine Mulvihill, who tallied 19 kills in the match, put down a pair of kills to post the set and match win for the home team.
 
Niedert led the Peacock offensively with 14 kills, while Streightiff added eight and Semelroth notched seven. Jaima Tonne handed out 22 assists, while Nicole Pozorski added nine. Charisma Herr recorded 11 digs to lead the back line, while Tonne added seven digs.
 
Upper Iowa is staying on the road for a pair of NSIC matches this Friday and Saturday at Minot State University and the University of Mary. The Peacocks and Beavers will line up in Minot, N.D. on Friday at 6 p.m., while UIU and UMary are slated for an 11 a.m. first serve in Bismarck, N.D.