Upper Iowa concluded their action-packed week of play with their last two games of the Hampton Inn Invitational. They faced Ohio Dominican on Saturday afternoon and defeated them in a five-set thriller. The Peacocks then battled with UW Parkside for the second time this season but did not get the same result as they fell in four sets. UIU went 3-1 at the tournament and is now 5-4 overall.
 
Zoe Semelroth reached 1,000 kills in her career in game one, becoming the sixth Peacock in program history to achieve the milestone and the only middle blocker. 
 
After the Peacocks took set one with ease (25-15), Ohio Dominican rallied off wins in sets two and three (25-16, 25-23) and fought a tough battle in set four. The two teams went back and forth over the 25-point threshold until the Peacocks edged out the Panthers 31-29. 
 
During set four,  a challenge by Upper Iowa was confirmed at what otherwise would have been the match point. 
 
UIU showed resiliency in set five as they started down 5-1. They came to life towards the end of the set and went on a 6-2 burst to claim game one. 
 
"I was again very proud of our resilience in the last two sets and not giving up when we were down," said Head Coach Jim Dietz. "We pushed through adversity, and I think the match will be even more memorable since Zoe picked up her 1,000^th  kill."
 
Both teams faltered in the sets where they recorded a 0% hitting percentage. For Ohio Dominican, it was set one; for Upper Iowa, it came in set two. ODU had 65 kills in the match, while UIU had 52, led by Zoe Semelroth with 20.
 
Jaeden Cook and Marissa Becker each tallied four service aces, Nicole Pozorski dished out 41 assists and McKenna Diermeier collected 15 digs.
 
The Peacocks only managed to take the third set off UW Parkside (25-22) but fought hard until the match ended. They came up short in the other sets 25-20, 25-16 and 25-23. 
 
"We wound up running out of steam at the end of the day," noted Dietz. "I like how we did not give up at any point and fought to the very end."
 
Parkside hit .536 in set one with 17 kills, marginally better than Upper Iowa, as they recorded 16 kills with a .438 hitting percentage. 
 
UIU was down 7-1 in set two, allowing UWP to set the tone and glide to a convincing 25-16 win.
 
The blue and white went on a 5-1 run at the end of set four to take control and win their only set of game two. 
 
The Peacocks were up 23-19 in set four but allowed the Rangers to rally off six straight points to win the contest. 
 
Upper Iowa volleyball will host Northwest Missouri State and Winona State in Fayette next Friday and Saturday, Sep. 20-21.