Peacock volleyball squeaked out a 3-2 win over Wayne State University (MI) earlier in the day for game one. By game two, Upper Iowa exuberated a confidence that propelled them to a 3-0 triumph over Lake Erie College. After day one of the Hampton Inn Invitational, UIU improved to an overall 4-3 record on the season. The Peacocks play two more games on Saturday, facing Ohio Dominican at 1 p.m. and UW Parkside at 5 p.m.
 

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Wayne State (MI)
 
Freshman Marissa Becker made her first start as a Peacock and aided the team with 11 kills in game one versus the Warriors. She trailed Zoe Semelroth with 20 and Lydia Imbrogno with 13. 
 
The two teams played three out of five sets competitively, while two segments were lopsided in score. The Peacocks claimed the second (25-15), third (25-22) and fifth (15-12) sets, while Wayne State grabbed set one 25-23 and set four 25-15.  
 
UIU let set one slip away as they held a 22-18 advantage but allowed the Warriors to command a 7-1 run to overtake the lead and finish off the segment. 
 
The Peacocks took control in set two and would then earn another win in set three as they edged out the close-scoring match with two straight kills from Semelroth towards the end to reach 25 first. Upper Iowa recorded their highest hitting percentage in set two with .481. 
 
Set five was a battle to the end, but UIU snagged three out of the last four points of the match to seal the set and claim game one. 
 
Becker and McKenna Diermeier toed the back line as they recorded 17 digs each, while Nicole Pozorski dished out 50 assists and Imbrogno led the team with three service aces. 
 

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Lake Erie College
 
In game two, the Peacocks hit .527 at the net as a unit,  led by Imbrogno with a .786 hitting percentage and 11 kills. Becker paced the team in kills with 14 (.480), followed by Semelroth with 13 (.600). 
 
Upper Iowa breezed to their three-set victory over Lake Erie with scores of 25-16, 25-13 and 25-14. 
 
They kickstarted set one with 19 kills and only one error while hitting .643, setting the tone for the entire contest. 
 
"You could tell in the first five points of the match that we were zeroed in," said Head Coach Jim Dietz. "That energy carried on throughout the match. We had great performances tonight from Lydia and Marissa, which took some pressure off our upperclassmen."
 
Pozorski tallied 27 assists, Imbrogno and Diermeier each recorded eight digs and Jaeden Cook collected three service aces.