(Peru, Neb.) – The start of the regular season for the Peru State Bobcat volleyball team took on a different complexion as they won three games in the Mount Mercy University Tournament. Last year, the 'Cats dropped their first four games before claiming their first victory of the season. In fact, it was Sept. 19 before Peru State won their third game in the 2012 campaign.

Peru State's first win of the season came over the AIB College of Business 25-10, 25-12, 25-27, 25-15. Also on Friday, the Bobcats topped the hosts, Mount Mercy University, 25-16, 25-16, 25-18. Ashford University handed the 'Cats their first loss on Saturday winning 25-19, 19-25, 25-14, 25-11. But, the Bobcats bounced back to sweep William Penn University 25-20, 25-18, 25-20.

AIB 8-23-13

The 'Cats hit at a .313 clip in the first game of the year which propelled them to the win.

Leading the way was Carrie Lierz (Holton, Kan.) with 13 kills, hitting .321. Bre Brandt (Papillion) added ten kills in her first competition for Peru State. Lindsey Nelson (Granite Bay, Calif.) and Rachael West (El Dorado, Kan.) each had seven kills. Freshman Maddie Sutton (Gretna) had seven kills while setter Courtney Jurek (Bellevue) contributed five kills.
Jurek led the setting with 18 assists while Hope Harsh (Cassoday, Kan.) added 16.

Mallory Hull (Morse Bluff), Jurek, and Brandt each had two service aces while Allison Glathar (Dawson), Paige Riza (Ravenna, Texas), Jordyn Lukasiewicz (Farwell), and Lierz each had one.

Hull and Brandt led the team with 19 digs with Jurek adding 11.
Sutton and Sarah Mertens (Lincoln) each had one solo block with Sutton adding six block assists. Brandt had three block assists while West and Lierz added two and one block assists respectively.

AIB BOX SCORE

Mount Mercy 8-23-13

The Bobcats held the Mustangs to a .010 hitting percentage while hitting a respectable .263 in the game which helped lead to the three-game sweep.

Lierz and Nelson each had nine kills with Lierz hitting .368. Brandt added eight kills while West hit an outstanding .700, connecting on seven of ten attacks with no errors.

Harsh led the setting with 16 assists with Jurek contributing 14.

Lukasiewicz and Jurek had four and three service aces respectively with Brandt adding one.

Hull led the team with 13 digs while Jurek, Brandt, and Lukasiewicz each adding nine.

Brandt and Mertens each had one solo and one assisted block while Nelson and Sutton each had one block assist.

MOUNT MERCY BOX SCORE

Ashford University 8-24-13

Neither team hit particularly well as Ashford had a .125 hitting percentage with Peru State hitting .081.

Brandt was the only player from either team to have double-digit kills as she finished with 13. Lierz added nine kills while hitting .273 and Nelson added seven kills.

Jurek contributed 18 assists with Harsh adding 14.

The Bobcats managed only thee service aces with Hull, Glathar, and Lukasiewicz each having one.

Hull had 26 digs with Brandt and Lukasiewicz each adding ten.

Sutton and Brandt each had one solo block. Sutton added three block assists with Nelson and Brandt each having two. Mertens contributed the other block assist.
ASHFORD BOX SCORE

William Penn University 8-24-13

Their first loss of the season did not detract Peru State as they bounced back with a three-game sweep of the Lady Statesmen. Peru State finished the game hitting .243 while holding William Penn to a .095 percentage.

Nelson and Mertens led the hitting with 12 and 10 kills respectively. Nelson finished the game with an outstanding .550 hitting percentage while Mertens hit .364. Lierz and Brandt each had six kills.