HAMMOND, Ind. - Upper Iowa (10-10, 3-5 GLVC) swept Kentucky Wesleyan (4-16, 1-8 G-MAC) 25-13, 25-17, and 25-19 on Saturday morning at the Midwest Region Crossover to reach .500 on the season. With the win, the Peacocks have won four straight matches and six of their last eight.
This marks the second time UIU has gone 3-0 at the Midwest Region Crossover, with the last time being in 2024. The program improves to 9-3 all-time in the four seasons at the Crossover. UIU's current four-game win streak is the longest for the program since 2021.
Marissa Becker scored a team-high 13.5 points in Saturday's match against the Panthers, posting a team-high nine kills on a .333 hitting percentage. She added seven digs, four service aces, and a block assist.
Kaily Porter posted eight kills with a .467 hitting percentage. The senior ended the weekend with a .457 hitting percentage and 19 kills. She also added two block assists.
Gracen Klima added six kills with a block assist. Erica Conger, Alexis Moses and Faith Fisher each had three kills.
Morgan Block tallied 14 digs with three service aces and two assists. She was 12-for-12 on service receptions and finished 100% in the category overall on the weekend at 31-for-31. The junior finished the weekend with 55 total digs (5.5/set).
Grace Fruzen posted 26 assists and 10 digs with two block assists and a service ace. She has a double-double in 11 of UIU's last 12 matches. Fruzen totaled 85 assists (8.5/set) on the weekend.
The Peacocks totaled a season-high 16 service aces as a team, led by sophomore Amaralyse Rodriguez posting five. That is the most by a Peacock in a single match this season. Three of Rodriguez's five aces came in the final four points of the second set.
Trailing 4-1 in the first set, a 5-0 Peacock run helped UIU score 19 of the next 24 points to take a commanding 20-9 opening-set lead. Avery Agnew knocked in back-to-back service aces to end the set, 25-13. UIU hit .357 as a team in the opening set, their best mark in a set on the weekend. Becker posted four kills, Klima and Porter had three kills and Conger had two kills in the opening set.
UIU fell down early in the second set again, 5-0, but a 7-1 run with kills by Fisher, Porter, Conger and Becker, along with two Block service aces, reclaimed the lead. The set was back-and-forth until the end, when Upper Iowa closed it on a 7-0 run featuring three of the last four points being scored on Rodriguez service aces.
The Peacocks finally got past the early-set woes in the third, going up 13-3 aided by four Becker service aces. UIU jumped out to a 22-11 lead for the largest of the set after a kill by Porter, and won the set 25-19.
Upper Iowa finished the match hitting .247 while Kentucky Wesleyan hit .058. That's the fourth-highest attack percentage for the Peacocks in a match this season. UIU outkilled KWC 33-22, with a 46-37 advantage in digs as well. The Peacocks had a 16-5 advantage in service aces as well.
Arielis Hernandez led the Panthers with seven kills, while Hadley Wolf had six kills and a team-high four blocks. Ana De Sevilla-Acosta posted 11 assists, and Sophie Spanier led the team with 11 digs.
Upper Iowa finished nonconference play this season with a 7-5 record. The Peacocks hope to keep the momentum rolling into GLVC action next week on the road against Southwest Baptist (Mo.) (13-8, 3-4 GLVC) and Drury (Mo.) (14-6, 5-2 GLVC). UIU plays SBU on Friday, Oct. 23, at 6 p.m. and plays Drury on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 3 p.m.
