DETROIT, Mich. – Upper Iowa volleyball (0-2) was unable to grab a win in Friday's double-header. The Peacocks lost 3-0 against both the Cedarville (Ohio) Yellow Jackets (1-0) and the Wayne State (Mich.) Warriors (1-0).
Offensively
Martha Pace led the way with 10 kills through six sets followed by
Kailey Porter with nine.
Jaeden Cook led the team in assists with 14, while
Grace Fruzen managed to add seven assists.
On the defensive side
Morgan Block had 24 digs. Pace (14) and Cook (9) followed her. The Peacocks had six blocks on the day.
Upper Iowa 0 – Cedarville 3
The Peacocks battled back and forth with Yellow Jackets throughout the beginning of the first set. However, Cedarville took the lead, 10-7, after they and strung together back-to-back kills and capitalized off a UIU error. The Yellow Jackets kept their lead throughout the remainder of the set to win 25-19. Pace, Porter and
Carley Jonker tried to help UIU rally back late, but were unsuccessful.
The second set started with a kill by
Lydia Imbrogno. Several more kills by Pace and several Yellow Jacket errors proved to be the catalyst that helped Upper Iowa keep control of the lead until the midway point of the set. Cedarville strung together several successful runs with multiple kills in a row. The Yellow Jackets used that momentum to win the set, 25-23.
The third set was all Cedarville. Upper Iowa's early service errors and attack errors throughout the set hurt them and gave Cedarville an 11-5 lead. Late in the third set,
Erica Conger and
Kailani Schroeder put together some offensive rallies, yet the Peacocks fell, 25-14.
Pace finished the game with five kills, 11 digs and 21 attacks. Jonker and Porter finished the match with six kills, while
Reese Martin and
Addison McCauley recorded four kills. Fruzen notched nine assists and Cook notched nine 14 assists.
Upper Iowa falls to 1-1 against Cedarville, with UIU winning the other match 3-1 on Aug. 27
, 2022.
Upper Iowa 0 – Wayne State 3
In the first set, Wayne State started strong out of the gate with scoring five straight points off of three kills and two attack errors by the Peacocks. UIU closed the gap to within three off of kills by Pace and Porter, but the Warriors widened the score off of several costly errors. WSU pulled away and won the set, 25-15.
The second set started promising with the Peacocks taking the early 1-0 lead with an Imbrogno kill off an assist from Cook. However, three straight kills by the Warriors served as a momentum changer. Wayne State took a 10-4 lead before the Peacocks eventually scored five straight points off of attack errors, a service ace by Fruzen and a kill later in the set to make the score 13-8. In the end, it was Wayne. St who was able to win the set, 25-14.
In the third set, Upper Iowa brought in a plethora of new faces including
Amaralyse Rodriguez and
Brooke Krogmann. Wayne State dominated the third set. They jumped out to a 13-1 lead off of several kills by Paige Gietbrock, Kayla Giroux and Leigha Baldwin. The Warriors finished the set by outscoring UIU 12-7. Upper Iowa lost the set, 25-8.
Pace had the most kills for the Peacocks with five followed by Imbrogno and Porter with three. Fruzen had seven assists and Cook had four. Block led the way on defense for the Peacocks with a career-high 13 digs.
Upper Iowa falls to 1-3 against Wayne State with their lone win coming last year. They won 3-2 in the Hampton Inn Invitational on Sept. 13, 2024.
The Peacocks have another doubleheader on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 10 a.m. ET against Winona State (Minn.) and then later at 2:45 p.m. against Northwood (Mich.).
