WINONA, Minn. – After cracking the national rankings for the first time in program history, No. 25 Upper Iowa was greeted by No. 15 Winona State University with a dramatic five-set match on Tuesday night. The Warriors prevailed on their home floor of McCown Gymnasium in an exhilarating defensive battle.
WSU triumphed by set scores of 14-25, 25-17, 25-23, 27-29, 15-13.
The teams combined for 206 digs as Winona set a new season high with 106. UIU's Ashley Larson led all players with 36 digs while Becca Pagel (27) and McKenna Larsen (22) each posted season highs in the category.
The Peacocks won the blocking battle, 11-5. Bethany Lovhaug recorded eight for Upper Iowa. Danielle Rampart and Maria Wrage had two apiece for WSU.
UIU didn't show any signs of jitters in its first-ever Top 25 matchup, recording a .412 attacking percentage with only one error, in a dominant opening set victory.
Winona responded in set two with its best offensive performance of the night at a .350 clip to even the match at one game apiece. Coach Joe Getzin inserted Kate Masberg into the lineup in set two and the freshman answered the bell with seven kills in the game.
Masberg drilled six more kills in set three as the Warriors edged the Peacocks to take a 2-1 match lead.
WSU took the lead for good in the game on a kill by Rampart. The Warriors lead by an 18-14 count on a kill by Jordan Runge, but Upper Iowa chipped away at its deficit to the very end.
A Winona attacking error knotted the score at 22-all before the Warriors went on a 3-1 run to the finish line. Rampart put WSU back in front with a kill and followed that with a big block accompanied by Wrage. The Warriors then capture set point on a kill by Wrage.
The thrilling fourth game featured eight lead changes and 15 ties on the scoreboard as Upper Iowa prevailed. Winona arrived at match-point four times, but the resilient Peacocks found an answer each time and extended the evening to a fifth set.
Masberg fittingly floored the final kill of the contest in a back-and-forth final set.
She finished the night with a career-best 19 kills to go along with a team-high four service aces while chipping in 10 digs.
Winona's season-high 81 kills were aided by Larsen's career-best 60 assists.
Rampart put down 22 kills in her second straight match with at least 20 kills. The senior also stuffed the stat sheet with 19 digs. Wrage recorded seven of her 12 kills over the final two sets.
Winona State improves to 17-7 (11-5 NSIC) with the hard-earned victory while Upper Iowa falls to 18-7 (9-7 NSIC).
The Warriors continue their final homestand with a pair of weekend matches. First up is a date with Minot State on Friday at 6 p.m.
