The Peacocks have spent their Labor Day weekend in Anchorage, Alaska for the Seawolf Invitational, coming out of the tournament 2-2 after falling to No. 7 St. Cloud State in four sets this afternoon in four sets. After losing the first set 25-20, Upper Iowa dug deep to grab the second frame 25-23, but were unable to come out on top in the third and fourth as they fell 25-20 and 25-18.
The game was highlighted by setter
Nicole Pozorski, as she eclipsed the 2,000 career assist mark and finished this afternoon's contest with 32.
Emily Kono finished with 18 kills, followed by
Zoe Semelroth with 11. The team compiled a total of 39, but were edged out by their opponents who tallied 63.
The Peacocks executed nine service aces and jumped for ten blocks, seven coming from the hands of Semelroth.
Madelyn Rettler registered 16 digs and Beesecker added 12.
UIU played from behind the entirety of set one, never quite able to catch the offensive output of SCSU. The Peacocks were down 20-14 and were able to climb back to only being down 21-19, but the Huskies remained too far out of grasp.
The second frame started off in favor of the Huskies, as they held an early 7-1 lead. However, the Peacocks chipped away and surpassed their opponents mid-set after going on a 10-2 run, putting them up 15-13. They did not relinquish their lead and claimed their only victory of the day against SCSU.
St. Cloud State retaliated in the third stint as they strung together eight points in a row, putting Upper Iowa at a far enough distance away to claim the set and hold the 2-1 advantage.
The Peacocks mustered up all they could in the fourth set, but were unable to catch the Huskies as they were a bit more offensively efficient. UIU was held to a .135 attacking percentage, while SCSU totaled .201%.
Upper Iowa is back in action next weekend as they participate in the Quincy Hawks Invitational, held at the Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Ill. They face three different opponents during the tournament. Their first contest is with Edinboro University on Sep. 9 at 4 p.m., with additional matchups versus Newman University and Quincy the following day at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.
