THIS WEEK IN UIU VOLLEYBALL… The Peacocks have a busy and tough week on the road in the Northern Sun this week. Upper Iowa heads to Winona State University on Tuesday, Oct. 4 for a match up with the Warriors at 6 p.m. UIU will then head into a big weekend against No. 7 St. Cloud State University on Friday, Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. and the No. 6 University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m.
LIVE OPTIONS… All three matches will have a pair of live options available for fans who can't make it into Minnesota this weekend. Live stats and a webcast will be available through links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. In addition, the game can 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.
TAKING IT BACK… Last weekend, the Peacocks split a pair of home matches with a three-set loss to Northern State University and a three-set sweep of Minnesota State University Moorhead. Upper Iowa hit .178 over the six sets at home with 12.2 kills/set and got their hands on 19.2 digs and 1.3 blocks per set against the Wolves and Dragons.
Kaci Beesecker led the back-row defenders with 37 digs including 24 in Saturdays win over MSUM, while four different Peacocks notched three blocks apiece.
Lydia Imbrogno (23),
Madelyn Rettler (19),
Nicole Pozorski (17) and
Sarah Stevelinck (10) all picked up double-digit digs in the six sets played. Offensively, Rettler (18) and
Zoe Semelroth (17) combined for 35 of UIU's 73 kills.
Maggie Streightiff (12) and Imbrogno (10) also reached double figures in kills for the weekend as well. Pozorski set up the Peacock attack with 55 assists averaging 9.2 per set and added seven kills over the two days.
QUICK GLANCE AT THE NSIC STANDINGS… The Peacocks enter this busy week with a 4-4 record in the Northern Sun Conference, which puts them in the middle of a logjam in seventh place. UIU is tied with Augustana University, Northern State University and Winona State. No. 1 Wayne State College is undefeated at 8-0 at the top of the standings, while the No. 6 Minnesota Duluth and No. 3 Concordia University, St. Paul are both 7-1. No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State University and No. 7 St. Cloud State are 6-2, while the University of Sioux Falls is 5-3 to hold sixth place on their own. Minnesota State University, Mankato's 3-5 record puts them in 11
th, and MSU Moorhead (2-6), Bemidji State University (2-6), University of Minnesota Crookston (1-7), University of Mary (1-7) and Minot State University (0-8) round out the bottom five spots. The top eight teams in the final standings earn a shot at the NSIC Tournament Championship, which will take place from Nov. 11-13 in St. Paul, Minn.
RANKED IN THE CONFERENCE STATS… Semelroth is ranked 19
th in the NSIC with 2.91 kills/set, 12
th in the conference in aces/set with a 0.4 average, and 13
th in points/set with 3.7 thanks to her kills, aces and blocks. Beesecker is averaging the third-most digs/set among NSIC defenders with 4.4/set and Rettler is 11
th with 3.6 digs/set, while Pozorski's 9.24 assists/set rank ninth in the NSIC.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS… Winona State enters the weekend having won four straight matches after a pair of weekend sweeps on the road at UMary and Minot State and at home with MSU Moorhead and Northern State. Madison Larson leads WSU's attack with a per set average of 3.6 kills, while Jaci Winchell averages 9.9 assists/set. As a team, the Warriors are hitting .190 with 12.8 kills/set, while their defense is getting 17.0 digs and 2.0 blocks per set.
SCOUTING THE NO. 7 HUSKIES… St. Cloud State comes into the weekend with a 14-2 record overall and a 6-2 mark in the NSIC with losses to Wayne State and Southwest Minnesota State. The Huskies average 14.4 kills/set and hit at a .298 clip. While the SCSU offense is constantly putting pressure on opponent's defenses, the defense is collecting 14.3 digs/set and 2.2 blocks/set. Kenzie Foley leads the SCSU offense with 4.34 kills/set and a .325 hitting percentage, while Phebie Rossi is hitting .370 with 3.1 kills/set and grabbing 1.18 blocks/set. Linsey Rachel is the third Husky to average over three kills per set with an average of 3.08. Emma Berran runs the offense with 11.12 assists/set.
SCOUTING THE NO. 6 BULLDOGS… Minnesota Duluth is currently 15-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference standings. The Bulldogs are hitting .264 as a team and knocking down 14.6 kills/set, while holding their opponents to just 10.5 kills/set. UMD's defense puts up averages of 15.0 digs/set and 2.1 blocks/set to keep their opponents off the scoreboard. The team is led by Cianna Selbitschka, who averages 3.18 kills/set, and Sydney Lanoue, who is putting down 3.05 kills/set. Samantha Paulsen leads the team in hitting with a .342 average on 2.84 kills/set. Grace Daak is a force at the net with 1.12 blocks/set.
WHO'S ON DECK… Upper Iowa will return to Prochaska Court and Dorman Memorial Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14-15. The Peacocks will host the Beavers of Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota Crookston
