THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK VOLLEYBALL… Upper Iowa looks to take the momentum from Saturday's victory over No. 23 Augustana University into their road weekend in North Dakota. The Peacocks will line up against the Marauders of the University of Mary on Friday in Bismarck and the Beavers of Minot State University on Saturday in Minot. UIU enters the weekend with a 7-4 mark overall and a 1-3 record in the Northern Sun, while UMary is 2-10 overall and 1-3 in the NSIC and MiSU is 0-11 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
LIVE OPTIONS… Both matches will have a pair of live options available for fans who can't make it to North Dakota 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.
HOW THE PEACOCKS GOT THEIR GROOVE BACK… UIU snapped a three-match skid with their upset of the No. 23 Vikings on Saturday, but Upper Iowa began their weekend with a 25-23 first-set win over No. 3 Wayne State College on Friday night. Despite the Wildcats controlling the second and third sets, the Peacocks nearly claimed set four over the undefeated team from Wayne. In their first two matches on Prochaska Court, Upper Iowa held advantages in total kills (105-88), aces (13-9) and digs (139-130).
STAND UP AND BE COUNTED… Several UIU student-athletes had big weekends in Peacock blue and white in the team's home openers. Hitter
Maggie Streightiff tallied 25 kills, second only to
Zoe Semelroth's 28, and added 10 digs and five blocks over the weekend. The Hayfield, Minnesota product knocked down 16 kills against the undefeated Wildcats and followed it up with nine kills in UIU's win over the Vikings. Semelroth led the Peacock offense with 28 kills in the two matches in Fayette and had a team-highs of 16 kills (tied with Streightiff) against No. 3 Wayne State and 12 against No. 23 Augustana.
Nicole Pozorski paced the attack with 82 assists (10.25/set) and chipped in 32 digs (4.0/set), which tied for the team high as well.
Kaci Beesecker put her hands on 32 digs (4.0/set) from her libero position.
RANKED IN THE CONFERENCE… Middle blocker
Sarah Johnson is ranked 11
th in the Northern Sun in hitting percentage at .324 thanks to her 61 kills in 148 swings with just 13 attack errors, while Semelroth, a fellow middle, is ranked 18
th at .288 with 120 kills in 264 swings with 44 attack errors. Pozorski comes in at ninth place in assists with an average of 9.05/set, and Beesecker is ranked seventh in the NSIC in digs with 4.05/set. Semelroth is the final Peacock in the rankings; the Tripoli, Iowa product is ranked 13
th in the Northern Sun in points with 3.63/set thanks to her 120 kills, 29 blocks and 13 aces.
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS… UMary (2-10, 1-3 NSIC) comes into the weekend after posting their first NSIC win of the season on Saturday. The Marauders outlasted the University of Minnesota Crookston 3-2 on the road. The team's first win came over the University of Arkansas at Monticello earlier in the season. UMary averages 9.6 kills, 8.7 assists, 17.8 digs and 1.8 blocks per set. The Marauders are led by Nehkyah Ellis (2.37 kills/set), Kameron Selvig (4.65 assists/set), Maddy Freed (4.10 assists/set), Kaia Sueker (4.72 digs/set) and Maddie Cooper (0.86 blocks/set).
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS… Minot State (0-11, 0-4) is hunting for their first victory of the season. Through the first 11 matches, the Beavers have claimed just five set wins with eight of the losses coming in straight sets. MiSU is averaging 8.8 kills, 7.8 assists, 10 digs and 1.3 blocks per set. The leaders of the Beavers include Alexandra Koontz (2.0 kills/set), Jaina Macaulay (5.82 assists/set), Lucia Mercolini (3.71 assists/set), Viktoria Sedova (2.67 digs/set) and Jenna Pahlen (0.62 blocks/set).
WHO'S NEXT… Upper Iowa returns home to Fayette, Prochaska Court and Dorman Memorial Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The Peacocks will host the Wolves of Northern State University on Friday at 6 p.m. and the Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead on Saturday at 2 p.m.
