THIS WEEKEND IN UIU VOLLEYBALL… The Peacocks will close out their regular season on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4-5 at home in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium. Upper Iowa welcomes the No. 7 Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University on Friday at 6 p.m. and the Cougars of the University of Sioux Falls, who are receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25, on Saturday at 5 p.m. UIU will honor their eight seniors prior to Friday's match with SMSU.

LIVE OPTIONS… Both matches this weekend will have live options available for fans who can't make it to Fayette. Live stats and a webcast will be available through links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. In addition, the matches 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. Friday's match will be broadcast live on KCRG-TV 9.2, while Saturday's match will be broadcasted on a delay and begin at 7 p.m. on KCRG-TV 9.2.
 
GET YOUR TICKETS… Upper Iowa has partnered with HomeTown Ticketing for all of this season's volleyball matches in Dorman. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time at UIUPeacocks.com/Tickets or by paying cash in person prior to the match. Fans are encouraged to stay ahead of the curve this season with the HomeTown Ticketing Fan App available on all mobile device platforms.
 
DIGITAL MATCHDAY PROGRAM… Digital programs are available to fans in the gymnasium or at home for both matches. Fans can access the interactive gameday program at any time at UIUPeacocks.com/Programs. QR Codes will also be located around the lobby to scan with your cell phone's camera that will link you directly to that game's specific digital gameday program.
 
THE THIN LINE BETWEEN VICTORY AND DEFEAT… Last weekend, Upper Iowa played tremendous volleyball on the road, but came up on the wrong end of a pair of five-set thrillers. The Peacocks lost 3-2 at Augustana University and No. 3 Wayne State College in a pair of matches that could have gone either way after dominating a match at home on Tuesday that saw UIU score a 3-1 victory over Winona State University. At Wayne State and Augustana, UIU tallied 12.8 kills, 17.8 digs, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 aces per set which led to a grand total of 155 offensive points in the 10 sets. The Vikings and No. 3 Wildcats were able to edge their guests in most categories with 13.1 kills, 17.9 digs, 1.7 blocks and 1.0 aces per set for a total of 158 offensive points in the 10 frames. Maggie Streightiff (34 kills) and Nicole Pozorski (98 assists) led the offense across the weekend, while Kaci Beesecker (51 digs) kept the ball off the floor on the back line and Sarah Johnson (7 blocks) played large at the net.   
 
PEACOCK POWER… The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference released their annual Volleyball All-Conference Awards on Thursday, and a pair of Peacocks were named among the conference's best performers. Both Zoe Semelroth and Kaci Beesecker earned a spot on the All-NSIC Second Team. Semelroth, who has played in 61 sets throughout Upper Iowa's 18 NSIC matches, leads the Peacock offense with 234 points (12th NSIC) thanks to 188 kills (18th NSIC), 23 service aces (9th NSIC) and 42 blocks. The Peacock middles per set averages of 3.84 points (13th NSIC) and 3.08 kills (17th NSIC) and her .208 hitting average are all team highs. Semelroth scored a season-high 21.5 points in a three-set sweep of McKendree University and added a career-high 17 kills at No. 3 Wayne State College last Saturday in a four-set loss. Her career-best seven blocks came at No. 7 St. Cloud State University. Beesecker has started at the libero position all season for the Peacocks playing in 64 sets in the team's 18 conference contests. One of the conference's best defenders, she has reached 313 digs (2nd NSIC) and is averaging 4.89 digs/set (2nd NSIC). Offensively, the Fairbank, Iowa product has handed out 53 assists and scored on 32 service aces, which ranks first among all Northern Sun individuals. Beesecker posted highs of 30 digs at Augustana in a four-set loss at Augustana for a 7.5 per set average and seven aces against Bemidji State University at home.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET… Upper Iowa is looking to avenge their weekend on the road at Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State from the opening NSIC weekend of the season. The Cougars and Mustangs posted 3-0 sweeps in the first meeting and held the Peacock offense in check. UIU hit .068 for the weekend and averaged just 9.2 kills and 15.5 digs per set, while the hosts hit .289 with 14.7 kills and 19 digs per frame.
 
OPPONENTS TO WATCH FOR… UIU's Semelroth and Beesecker won't be the only All-NSIC performers on the court this weekend. The following Mustangs and Cougars also earned the league's highest honor on Thursday.

• Southwest Minnesota State
  • Meg Schmidt – RS – All-NSIC First Team
  • Alisa Bengen – S – All-NSIC Second Team
  • Emma VanHeel – MB – All-NSIC Second Team
• Sioux Falls
  • Sadie Voss – OH – Freshman of the Year & All-NSIC Second Team
  • Jordan Kuper – MB – All-NSIC Second Team