Box Score Upper Iowa 3 #20 Wayne State 2

            Upper Iowa rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat #20 Wayne State College 23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-9, 15-12 in a Northern Sun Conference volleyball match played Friday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC drops to 15-9 and 8-6 in the NSIC while the visiting Peacocks improve to 18-5 and 9-5 in league games.
            Wayne State came out hitting very well, posting 18 kills and a .390 attack percentage in the first set while holding off a late Upper Iowa rally for a 25-23 set win.  Erin Gross posted seven kills with Jaci Brahmer adding six for the Wildcats.
            The second set featured six ties, but WSC used seven kills from Brahmer and a .415 team attack percentage in the set with 18 kills and just one error to hold off the Peacocks 25-23.
            The third set saw the two teams exchange nine ties and four lead changes, but UIU pulled away late while holding WSC to just a .100 attack percentage with seven errors as Upper Iowa registered a 25-21 set win.
            The Peacocks continued their hot hitting in the fourth set, posting a .343 attack percentage while forcing WSC into six attack errors and a .051 attack percentage in a 25-9 set win to force a fifth and deciding set.
            Upper Iowa took an early 6-3 lead in the fifth set to force a Wildcat timeout.  WSC got as close as one several times with the last one at 11-10 following an Erin Gross kill.
            But the Peacocks used a Wildcat service error followed by an ace to take a 13-10 lead and Upper Iowa went on to finish with a 15-12 set win to complete the comeback.
            Upper Iowa recorded a .297 attack percentage in the match compared to .265 for WSC.  The Peacocks held a 76-65 edge in kills over the Wildcats and 98-78 in digs.  UIU had eight service aces to just two by the Wildcats while WSC held a 10-6 advantage in blocks over Upper Iowa.
            Brahmer ended the night with a career-high 21 kills on a .543 attack percentage to lead the Wildcats.  Gross followed with 19 kills and Katie Stephens had 12 along with 16 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. 
            Junior setter Megan Gebhardt also had a double-double with 56 set assists and 12 digs.  Sophomore libero Haley Kauth had 17 digs while senior Bree Ackermann accounted for 11.
            The Wildcats will be at home again Saturday afternoon hosting #17 Winona State in a 4 p.m. contest at Rice Auditorium.