(Peru, Neb.) – It was a long, hard, tough match on the road, but the Peru State Bobcat volleyball team picked a five-set win over the Culver-Stockton College Wildcats on Friday night. The Bobcats won 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13 to gain their 21
st win of the season. The 21
st win matches the 2000 Bobcat team's record of 21-12, but trails the 2002 team's 28 win total.
Peru State improved to 21-12 overall and 4-4 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC). With the loss the Wildcats fell to 3-5 in the HAAC and 21-10 overall.
Presently, the Bobcats are in a three-way tie for fourth in the HAAC with Tuesday night's game being key as to whether or not the 'Cats will host a first-round postseason tournament match.
Game Action and Statistics
There were 30 ties and 15 lead changes in the match which saw neither team hit particularly well, but that was primarily due to the defensive efforts of both teams. Peru State finished the match hitting .143, but held Culver-Stockton to a paltry .069.
Only one Bobcat was in double figures with kills as
Bre Brandt (Papillion) finished the match with 13 kills. Sarah Mertens
(Lincoln) added nine kills while hitting an outstanding .533 as she only had one error in 15 attempts.
Carrie Lierz (Holton, Kan.) added seven kills while
Brittany Peterson (Orem, Utah) and
Lindsey Nelson (Granite Bay, Calif.) each added six kills.
Courtney Jurek (Bellevue) had 20 assists to lead Peru State in setting while
Hope Harsh (Cassoday, Kan.) contributed 11.
Jurek led the team with two service aces while Brandt and
Jordyn Lukasiewicz (Farwell) each added one.
Mallory Hull (Morse Bluff) finished with 27 digs and added four assists. Brandt and Jurek both finished with double doubles on the night as they added 19 and 11 digs respectively.
Peterson was a blocking machine as she had one solo block and 13 block assists. Lierz had the other solo block and added four assists. Nelson and Mertens finished with eight and six block assists each while
Rachael West (El Dorado, Kan.) added three block assists.
CULVER-STOCKTON BOX SCORE
Upcoming Match
Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Bobcats will host the Ravens from Benedictine College in the final match of the regular season. Currently, the Ravens are tied for seventh in the HAAC with a 3-5 mark and are 10-19 overall.
With the win, Peru State could potentially host a postseason conference match on Saturday night. The Bobcats hold the tiebreaker over Graceland University, but would need to win and have Missouri Valley College lose in order to host.
It will be a "Blue-Out" in the AWAC on Tuesday night as the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) is asking all Bobcat fans to dress in blue in support of Peru State's efforts to secure a home playoff match.
