Upper Iowa swept a pair of matches on the first day of the UIndy Invitational on Friday in Indianapolis, Ind. The Peacocks defeated the No. 12 Cardinals of Wheeling Jesuit University, the 2015 NCAA Division II Champions, in four sets in an early morning match and then dominated their afternoon match against the Rangers of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. With the wins, UIU improved to 5-1 overall and pushed their win streak to five straight matches.
 
The Peacocks and Cardinals lined up at the net for an 8:30 a.m. match and Upper Iowa was ready to go from the start. UIU hit .211 for the match with 60 kills (15/set). In addition to the solid offense, Upper Iowa was great on defense with 84 digs (21/set) and 12 blocks (3/set).
 
In the first set, the Peacocks jumped out to a 6-1 lead and increased their advantage to eight points, 18-10, thanks to a 8-1 run after Wheeling Jesuit pulled within two. The Cardinals cut the gap back to two, 20-18, but Upper Iowa scored five of the final six points to pull away with a 25-19 win. Haley Weepie knocked down three kills during the final run.
 
After going point for point in the second set, Wheeling Jesuit used an 8-2 run to get ahead 20-15. UIU rallied with a 9-2 run to not only get back into the set, but race past the Cardinals to earn a 25-22 win. Anna Winter supplied three kills in the winning run.
 
Wheeling Jesuit outlasted Upper Iowa in the third set, 25-22, to pull within a set.
 
The Peacocks dominated the fourth set, 25-17, thanks to a pair of big runs. Upper Iowa's first string of points hit seven straight with Haley Poula scoring three service aces. The second run came with six straight points highlighted by a pair of kills from Winter.
 
Winter led the offense with 16 kills, while Poula added 12 and 6 service aces and Weepie, Bethany Lovhaug and Lauren Wombles all added 9 kills. Malissa LeClaire handed out 53 assists to pace the offense and added 17 digs. Weepie led the back line with 20 digs, while Gabby Holmes posted 16 and Madi Meier had 11.  Lovhaug recorded 10 blocks and Poula denied 6 at the net.
 
Against UW-Parkside, the Peacock dominated in all phases. Upper Iowa hit .363 with 40 kills in a three-set sweep. UIU won the sets by scores of 25-13, 25-20 and 25-12. After committing only 7 errors in the entire match, the Peacocks forced the Rangers into 22 errors.
 
Winter put down 11 kills with only one error to lead the Peacock offense. Lovhaug (9) and Poula (8) combined for 17 kills in the match. LeClaire dished out 34 assists, while Holmes got her hands on 18 digs and Weepie added 9 digs.
 
The Peacocks get back onto the courts at UIndy on Saturday. UIU will challenge the host-Greyhounds of UIndy at 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT) and the Hawks of Quincy University at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT).