(Peru, Neb.) – Normally when you have five players with eight kills or more in a volleyball match, your team wins. Unfortunately for the Peru State Bobcats, that was not enough on Tuesday night as the Benedictine College Ravens came to Peru and topped the 'Cats in a long, five-set match.
The Ravens eventually won 25-18, 18-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-11 and by doing so, wrapped up the fourth seed in the upcoming Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Postseason Tournament. Benedictine finished the regular season with an 11-19 overall mark and 4-5 in the HAAC. The Bobcats also fell to 4-5 in the HAAC and 21-13 overall.
Peru State ended up seeded sixth in the postseason tourney as league officials had to use four different tie-breakers to settle the five-way tie for fourth which occurred as the regular season ended on Tuesday night.
Prior to the start of the pre-game announcements, Peru State recognized Private First Class (PFC) Joshua Mertens, brother of junior middle hitter Sarah Mertens, as he had just returned from Ft. Lee, Va. PFC Mertens graduated top of his class at Parachute Rigger Class and is a paratrooper with the Nebraska National Guard. PFC Mertens received a standing ovation from the crowd for his service to our state and country.
Match Highlights
Rachael West (El Dorado, Kan.) had a Bobcat career-high of ten kills to lead Peru State. West also had a team-high hitting percentage of .292.
Three Bobcats finished with nine kills each – Sarah Mertens
(Lincoln), Bre Brandt (Papillion), and
Carrie Lierz (Holton, Kan.). Lindsey Nelson (Granite Bay, Calif.) added eight kills while the other starting hitter,
Brittany Peterson (Orem, Utah), finished with five kills.
Hope Harsh (Cassoday, Kan.) led the setting efforts with 21 assists while
Courtney Jurek (Bellevue) added 15.
Harsh, Jurek, and
Paige Young (Gretna) each had two service aces. Lierz, not normally in a serving rotation, added one service ace.
Mallory Hull (Morse Bluff) led the team in digs with 19. Hull also had five assists from her libero position. Brandt added 17 while
Jordyn Lukasiewicz (Farwell) finished with ten.
Mertens was credited with the lone solo block while the team finished with 18 block assists. Peterson had seven of the 18 block assists with Lierz adding three. Mertens, West,
Madison Sutton (Gretna), and Brandt each had two block assists.
BENEDICTINE BOX SCORE
Upcoming Match
With the five-way tie for fourth in the HAAC at the end of the regular season between Peru State, Benedictine, Graceland University, Culver-Stockton College, and Missouri Valley College, numerous tie breakers determined the seeding for those five teams for Saturday's first-round action.
Benedictine was awarded the fourth seed as the Ravens had a 3-1 match record among the tied teams. The Wildcats of Culver-Stockton College were seeded fifth as the point spread was sued to break the tie in favor of Culver-Stockton over the Bobcats as the Wildcats had a +5 differential while Peru State was a -3.
Peru State was awarded the sixth seed among the three teams remaining as they had the best game record against Graceland and Mo Valley. Then, Graceland was placed seventh as they won their regular-season match against Missouri Valley.
All first-round matches will be played on Saturday. Missouri Valley will face #1 MidAmerica Nazarene University at 6 p.m. in Olathe, Kan. Benedictine will host Culver-Stockton at 2 p.m. in Atchison, Kan., while #3 Baker University hosting the Bobcats in Baldwin City, Kan., at 7 p.m. Graceland will travel to face #2 Evangel University in Springfield, Mo., in a 7 p.m. contest.
The second round will be held at the remaining higher seeds on Wednesday, Nov. 13, with the championship match held at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, Nov. 16.
