fayette, iowa - after hitting an uncharacteristic .056 and dropping set 1 to upper iowa (7-5, 0-2 nsic), #2 concordia-st. Paul (13-1, 2-0 nsic) rebounded to grab its second consecutive win over the peacocks, 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-21). Junior outside hitter raina hein had a career high 18 kills and a .469 hitting average, while senior whitney meierotto came up with 18 kills and 12 digs for her fifth double-double.

the golden bears, who have been incredibly strong in the front row this season, could not find their tempo in the opening set in fayette. Conversely, the peacocks came out on the offensive and led from the first point on. The first breathing room of the set came with a 5-0 run that put upper iowa up 22-16 shortly before they took the early decision.

a concordia run was due up in the second set and they went ahead 10-4. The team improved to .450 hitting, with hein and meierotto splitting 12 of the team's 14 kills in the set. Uiu cooled to just .080 in attacking and gave the cu defense a break. The peacocks tallied just one dig through the entire set.

the golden bears once again jumped ahead early in the final two sets, but the peacocks inched their way back into both games. Defense was the main factor for success down the stretch, especially in a tight fourth set in which cu hitters struggled to get past the uiu block. Play tended toward the sloppy end with both teams forced to play out of system balls, but concordia's advantage in ball control helped to decide the win.

the big night offensive night for hein was coupled with two block assists and a dig, while meierotto was present all over the court, marking 18 kills, 12 digs, four blocks (2s, 2a) and two service aces. maggie mcnamara had 43 assists and six digs as the golden bears swung for a .229 average. mary slinger saved 11 balls and maria steinhagen helped out with four block assists. The team had ten total blocks on the evening.

after falling 3-0 to the golden bears just three nights ago, upper iowa hitters seemed to take a few lessons into tonight's match. Beth deutmeyer came up with 11 kills with a .529 average and shea meyermann and nicky brown totaled nine kills each. Kimberly humpal was a force at the net with six block assists. Uiu had 34 digs split between the roster.

the golden bears continue their road trip tomorrow afternoon with a 4:30 match at winona state.