A pair of Peacocks represented the Upper Iowa tennis team this past weekend in Des Moines, Iowa at the Drake Invitational. Upper Iowa's Shakhnaza Zhanatova and Deimante Krivickaite played in the doubles and singles competition hosted by the Bulldogs at the Knapp Tennis Center.
 
The pair teamed up in doubles as part of the B Flight bracket. Zhanatova and Krivickaite won their opening match against Madeline Doherty and Olivia Fain of the University of Northern Iowa by an 8-7 (1) score thanks to a victory in the tiebreaker. UIU's pair then took on Marta Bellucco and Sandra Honigova of Wichita State University in the quarterfinals dropping the bout 8-0 to the eventual bracket champions.
 
In singles action, both Peacocks won two matches before losing in the semifinals of the D Flight bracket. Zhanatova defeated Megan Webb of Drake (6-3, 4-6, 6-2) and Annika Teske of Augustana University (6-7 (3), 7-6 (9), ret.) before losing in the semis to the eventual bracket champ Laura Higueras of Creighton University. Higueras won the match (6-2, 6-1).
 
Krivickaite bested Fann of Northern Iowa in three sets (1-6, 6-3, 6-1) in her opening match and then defeated Rebecca Faulkner of Augustana (6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4) to advance to the semis. She dropped the match to Lillian Tiemeyer of the University of Nebraska-Omaha (6-3, 6-2) to end her run at the tournament.

"Shakhnaza and Deimante played tremendous tennis all weekend long," said Head Coach Leo Millet. "They both showed great mental strength during some tough matches."
 
The Peacocks have two duals on the schedule for this fall. UIU will play at the University of Dubuque on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 3:30 p.m. and at Luther College on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m.