Box Score

FAYETTE, Iowa - The Northern State Wolves ran their latest win streak to five straight matches on Saturday with a hard-fought 3-0 win (27-25, 25-21, 25-23) over Upper Iowa in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball action.  NSU moved to 11-8 overall with the victory and now stand 6-5 in NSIC play.  UIU slipped to 12-8 overall and also stand at 6-5 in the loop.

Four of NSU's five wins in the latest streak have come on the road.  NSU will play seven of its last nine matches at home, where they are 5-2 this season.

Saturday's win did not come without a fight.  The Wolves survived a tug-of-war battle for set one.  After watching a 19-16 lead slip away, NSU had to find a way to fight back from 23-21 down.  NSU came out of a timeout to even the score at 23-all following kills from Macey Finizio and Kelsey Chambers, forcing the Peacocks to burn their second timeout of the set.  UIU fought off two NSU set points, but back-to-back kills from Chelsea Chavez and Kaleinani Kabalis closed out the set and put the Wolves on the board.

The Wolves controlled much of the second set, surrendering the lead only briefly through the middle portion of the set.  NSU pulled away from a 19-19 tie on three straight kills from Chavez and Kabalis.  NSU also took advantage of a couple of net errors by the Peacocks before Chambers finished off the set with her fourth kill of the set to give the wolves a commanding 2-0 lead heading into the break.

Set three progressed in much the same fashion with NSU taking the lead early.  Upper Iowa fought back through the middle stages of the set, but the Wolves responded in the late going, rallying from 19-18 down to go up 23-20.  Freshman middle blocker Cari McGarvie closed out the set and match with a pair of kills to send NSU off with the win.

Kabalis paced the NSU hitters with 15 kills and 11 digs, followed closely by Chambers with 14 kills and a solid .400 percentage at the net.  NSU posted a respectable .254 attack percentage as a team despite having to overcome nine UIU blocks.

The five-match win streak is NSU's longest since in NSIC play since 2002.

NSU has one match remaining on its current road swing and will face off against MSU Moorhead on Tuesday night.  The Dragons, who were ranked 19th in the country when the Wolves knocked them off at home earlier this season, are receiving votes in the latest edition of the AVCA Top 25 poll.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. in MSUM's Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.  The Wolves return home next weekend to host No. 19 Wayne State and Augustana on Friday and Saturday, respectively.