LIBERTY, Mo. - Martha Pace totaled 29 kills and Grace Fruzen had 53 assists in Upper Iowa's (5-15, 3-4 GLVC) four-set victory (25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18) over William Jewell (Mo.) (4-16, 0-6 GLVC) on Friday night. Both marks were career-highs for Pace and Fruzen.
Pace finished the match hitting .317, which marked a season-high for the graduate. She was consistent all night with eight kills in the first set, seven kills in the second set, six kills in the third set and eight kills in the fourth set. Her best hitting set was the fourth, where she finished .412.
Fruzen's 53 assists tied her career-high against McKendree on Oct. 11. She added 20 digs, also marking a career high for the sophomore setter. Fruzen added two blocks and two service aces.
The first set was back-and-forth with both teams trading three-point and two-point runs. Leading 20-19 late, the Peacocks pulled away with a kill by Reese Martin, two kills by Kailey Porter and a block by Porter and Fruzen. Porter's second kill of the run ended the set, 25-20. UIU outhit William Jewell .268-.063 in the opening set.
Leading 9-6 in the second, the Peacocks extended their lead to 16-8 with a 7-2 run, led by four kills by Pace. William Jewell battled back to cut the lead to 20-17. The Peacocks scored the final five points off two Pace kills, a Porter kill, an Alexis Moses kill and a service ace by Lydia Imbrogno to win, 25-19.
A pair of early 5-0 runs gave the Cardinals a 14-10 advantage in the third set. UIU kept it close and eventually took 19-18 and 23-22 leads. William Jewell then scored the final three points off a UIU service error and two attack errors to win, 25-23.
The Peacocks came out firing in the fourth set with an early 11-3 lead. Morgan Block recorded her first career kill during the run, digging the ball and getting it to land in bounds on William Jewell's side.
Leading 14-8 in the fourth, the Peacocks went on a 5-0 run with two Pace kills, two Cardinal attack errors and a kill by Imbrogno. That gave the Peacocks full control of the set, 19-8. Imbrogno ended the match with a kill to win, 25-18.
Porter added 13 kills on a .267 hitting percentage. That marks her second-most kills in a match this season. She also had five blocks. Imbrogno totaled 11 kills, 19 digs, three assists and two aces. Moses totaled nine kills and five blocks.
Block led the Peacocks in digs with 28. McKenna Diermeier added nine digs. Martin was the team's leader in blocks with six while adding eight digs, an assist and a service ace. Carley Jonker had five digs.
As a team, the Peacocks totaled 67 kills for a season-high. They more than doubled William Jewell's kills with 32. The 67 kills are the most for Upper Iowa in a match since Oct. 26, 2022, against Augustana (S.D.).
UIU out-assisted WJC, 64-29, and out-digged them, 98-66. That's the most assists and second-most digs for the team this season. Both teams finished the game with 10 blocks. The Cardinals had eight aces compared to six for the Peacocks.
William Jewell was led by Emma Lea Benney and Caroline Beckmann, each with nine kills. Reaghan Bible had 23 assists, and Madison Roney totaled 18 digs.
Upper Iowa will stay the night in Missouri and head to Kansas City to play Rockhurst (Mo.) (15-7, 6-0 GLVC) on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Hawks stayed undefeated in conference play on Friday night after sweeping Truman State (Mo.).
