The Peacock volleyball team closed out the non-conference portion of their 2021 season tonight and hosted their first match in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium since Nov. 16, 2019. Upper Iowa dropped the first set of the night to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, but claimed the next three frames to secure a 3-1 victory and improve to 7-2 on the season. The Rangers fell to 3-6 with the loss.
 
The Rangers rallied from a few five-point deficits (13-8, 14-9, 18-13) and used a 6-0 run to claim a slim 19-18 lead behind four kills from Reese Rossnagel. The teams then traded points as UIU staved off set point five times before Parkside finally notched a two-point advantage at 30-28. UIU tallied 18 kills in the opening set, but 7 attack errors proved to be too much to overcome.
 
The Peacock offense took control in the second set posting 18 kills again, but the team's hitting percentage rose to .297 thanks to less swings to post a 25-20 win. Upper Iowa was sensational on the attack in set three hitting .500 with 14 kills and just one attack error while registering a 25-9 set win. The home team closed out the match in the fourth set with a 25-17 win behind a .419 hitting percentage on 17 kills and 4 attack errors.
 
While the offense got better as the match went on, so did the Peacock defense. After the Rangers hit .286 in the first set with 14 kills, Upper Iowa held UWP to just 25 kills over the final three sets combined while forcing 15 attack errors.
 
The high-efficiency offense for Upper Iowa flowed through their two middles that combined for 25 kills and just three attack errors. Zoe Semelroth (14 kills) hit .500 on 26 swings, while Carlee Dove (11 kills) hit .529 on just 17 attempts. Hitters Kaitlin Niedert (17 kills, .282) and Maggie Streightiff (15 kills, .370) paired to lead the team in total kills. Nicole Pozorski set up the offense with 54 assists in the four sets accounting for a 13.5 per set average.
 
Defensively, the Peacocks got 22 digs from the reigning NSIC Defensive Player of the Week Charisma Herr and 14 from Madelyn Rettler, who also chipped in 7 kills. At the net, Dove tallied 6 blocks.
 
Upper Iowa opens play in the Northern Sun Conference this weekend with a pair of home matches. The Peacocks will take on the Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead on Friday at 6 p.m. and the Wolves of Northern State University on Saturday at 1 p.m.