THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK VOLLEYBALL … The Peacocks resume conference play this weekend as they travel to Missouri for two matches. They start the weekend off at William Jewell on Friday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. and then travel to Rockhurst on Saturday for a 3 p.m. match up.
LIVE COVERAGE… There are several ways to stay connected with Peacock volleyball for fans who are unable to travel to the road games. There are both live stats (free) and a pay-per-view webcast available through the links attached with this story. Fans can also refer to UIUPeacocks.com/Live for all links on each gameday.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK… The Peacocks went 1-3 last weekend at the Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover Tournament in Hammond, Ind. at the Hammond Sportsplex. They defeated Ohio Dominican 3-2 in their first match, then fell to Wayne State (MI) in a 3-0 decision and wrapped up their weekend with a 3-1 loss to Trevecca Nazarene.
The 14 Great Lakes Valley Conference teams finished the tournament with the best record out of the three participating leagues. The GLVC volleyball squads combined for a .762 winning percentage thanks to a 32-10 overall record, while the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's 10 member institutions netted a 15-15 record for a .500 winning percentage, and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference's 14 programs were 10-32 (.238).
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS… William Jewell is on a three-game win streak after topping Malone University (3-0), Saginaw Valley State (3-0) and Thomas More (3-1) at the Midwest Crossover last weekend. They sit 12th in the conference with a 1-5 record, their only win being against McKendree. The Cardinals post a 9-12 overall mark. WJC is fifth in the conference in kills with 12.99 per set and third in assists with 12.08 each set. Bella LaPorta is third for kills per set with 4.25.
SCOUTING THE NO. #25 HAWKS… Rockhurst (16-4, 4-2 GLVC) stood pat as the 25th-ranked team for the third-straight week according to the AVCA's most recent poll. The Hawks went 2-1 at the Crossover last weekend, defeating Purdue Northwest and Walsh, but falling 3-0 to Grand Valley State. Their two conference losses were to #5 Missouri-St. Louis (3-0) and #19 Lewis (3-1). Rockhurst is currently fourth place in the GLVC, coming in behind UMSL, Lewis and Quincy. Ali Olson is second in the conference in blocks with 1.12 per set, while Maureen Reilley in digs with 5.39.
NEWCOMERS AT THE NET… After the three-game tournament last weekend, the combination of newcomers including
Alexis Moses,
Kailey Porter and
Maria Winter combined for 53 of the team's 137 kills. Moses registered 19 kills with an impressive .429 hitting percentage while tallying five blocks and seven digs in addition to her dominant play at the net. Porter recorded 24 kills, falling just shy of the team-high 28 behind Zoe Semelrorth. The freshman also registered the second-highest hitting percentage on the team after Moses with .278.
GLVC STATS…Several Peacock individuals are tabbed on the conference leaderboard across several statistical categories.
ON THE HORIZON… Upper Iowa returns to Fayette next weekend with matchups against No. 4 University of Missouri-St. Louis on Friday at 6 p.m. and McKendree on Saturday at 3 p.m.
