BISMARCK, N.D. - Hoping to start off on the right foot for the weekend festivities, the University of Mary Volleyball team took on Upper Iowa University for the beginning of U-Mary's annual Dig Pink Weekend.
 
The Marauders (8-11, 3-7 NSIC) had an opportunity to seize the momentum in the first set of the match, but the Peacocks (10-9, 4-6 NSIC) would not allow it as they stole set one and the Marauders eventually fell in straight sets, 27-25, 25-22, and 25-11, for their fifth straight loss in conference play.
 
Upper Iowa jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set, but U-Mary came right back with three quick points off two Peacock errors and a Rachel Astrup service ace that tied the set at 4-4. The Peacocks responded in kind with a 4-1 run that secured an 8-5 lead, but the Marauders swung the point spread back into their favor with a 5-1 run off two Lauren Randall kills, an Elizabeth Garcia kill, and two Peacock errors that put the score at 10-9 in favor of U-Mary.
 
The Marauders kept the cushion at 13-11 and again at 16-15, but Upper Iowa found a gap to sneak through and retook the lead at 17-16 with two quick kills from Kelsey Hinrichs and Bethany Lovhaug to put U-Mary on their heels.
 
U-Mary's offense found the next gear, however, as two Katelyn Olson kills, another Garcia kills and a Freddie Campbell kill joined a team block from Olson and Astrup and a Peacock error as part of a 6-1 Marauder run that put the set within reach at 22-18 in favor of the home team.
 
Upper Iowa stormed back and narrowed U-Mary's lead to 22-21 but the Marauders got two quick kills from Randall and Campbell to put the set on the brink at 24-22 to snap U-Mary's 12-set scoreless streak.
 
Unfortunately the offense stalled as the Peacocks tied the set up at 24-24, but the Marauders had another opportunity to clinch the set with a block from Garcia and Olson to put the score at 25-24 in favor of U-Mary, but Upper Iowa would not be denied as they rallied off three straight points to snatch the set out of U-Mary's hands at 27-25.
 
The second set started off as a back-and-forth between two evenly matched teams as neither could claim a lead greater than three points with Upper Iowa owning the lead midway through the set at 16-14. The Marauders fired off four straight points from two Peacock errors and two team blocks, first from Garcia and Randall and the second from Garcia and Olson, that put the score in their favor at 19-16, but once again Upper Iowa had a response with five unanswered points that were a result of Marauder miscues as U-Mary had three errors to go with a Peacock service ace and a Lauren Wombles kill that made the score 21-19 in favor of the visitors.
 
The Marauders seemed to have the momentum back in their favor with three quick points off two Randall kills and a Thayna Silva kill that put U-Mary on top at 22-21, but the deciding factor came in the form of two Marauder errors and two Peacock kills to clinch the second set for Upper Iowa at 25-22, leaving U-Mary on the edge of another sweep.
 
The final set appeared to be going well with U-Mary staying close behind the Peacock at 6-5 early on, but a devastating 8-1 run derailed the Marauders' offense and all U-Mary could do was try to whittle away the lead at 14-6 in the hopes of going to a fourth set.
 
It wouldn't matter, though, as Upper Iowa closed the match on a 9-1 run off a 16-10 lead that slammed the door shut on U-Mary's comeback chances and made the score 25-11 the final nail in the coffin on the night.
 
The Marauders had good ball movement throughout the match as Lauren Randall and Elizabeth Garcia led the offense with Randall finishing with nine kills and seven digs to go with Garcia's eight kills and five block assists.
 
Katelyn Olson provided the means of attack as she finished with 26 assists on the night to go with 10 digs and four block assists for the all-around effort.
 
Alex Brown anchored the back line with 15 digs on the night as four Marauders finished with double digit digs; along with Olson's 10 digs, Thayna Silva finished with 11 and Geovana Almeida ended up with 10 as U-Mary had a resilient back line throughout the entire match.
 
The Marauders will continue their Dig Pink Weekend tomorrow night when they host #25 Winona State University starting at 6:00 PM as four home events highlight a busy Saturday for Marauder athletics.
 
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