(Peru, Neb.) – The end result was not what was wanted, but the Peru State volleyball team ended up with two wins and one loss in their second fall invitational.  After topping Stephens College Friday night and then sweeping AIB on Saturday morning, the 'Cats fell to Haskell Indian Nations University late Saturday afternoon.
 
After the tournament, Peru State is 9-7 on the season.  Haskell won all three of their games while Stephens College won one.  AIB lost all three of their games.
 
Stephens College – Friday Night
 
The Bobcats did not trail in the first set of the game against the Stars and only trailed on two occasions in the second and third sets on their way to a three-set sweep.
 
Peru State jumped to a 3-0 lead to start against Stephens.  The Stars fought back to 5-4 before the 'Cats went up 9-4 behind two service aces from Kelsey Young (Goodfield, Ill.).  Stephens managed to tie it at 13-13, but the Bobcats went on an 8-0 run and went up 21-13.  Peru State finished the first set with a 25-16 win.
 
After Stephens scored the first point of the second set, a kill by Nicole Soifua (West Point, Utah) tied it at 1-1.  Bre Brandt (Papillion) had a service ace and the 'Cats moved out to a 3-1 advantage.  The teams went back and forth with the Stars staying as close as three at 13-10.  Behind the serving of Mallory Hull (Morse Bluff), Peru State went up 18-10.  Peru State went on to win the second set 25-14.
 
The third set was closer throughout with the Stars leading 21-19 late in the set.  A kill by Carrie Lierz (Holton, Kan.) cut it to 21-20 and then Shannon Liewer (Imperial) stepped to the service line and the Bobcats went on to win 25-20.
 
Lea Boras (Markarska, Croatia) led Peru State with 11 kills while hitting .375.  Rian Kirby (Gretna) finished with nine kills and hit .333.  Soifua and Jennifer Ostrowski (Kankakee, Ill.) each added six kills.  As a team, Peru State hit .313 while holding Stephens to a .022 hitting percentage.
 
Courtney Jurek (Bellevue) had 21 assists while Young added ten.
 
Brandt and Young each had two service aces with Jurek adding one.
 
Hull was the only player in double-digit digs with 19.  Brandt added nine while Liewer had seven.  Kirby and Jordyn Lukasiewicz (Farwell) each added six.
 
Boras and Kirby each finished with three solo blocks.  Soifua, Ostrowski, and Cristal Quinonez (Anthony, N.M.) each had one solo block.  Soifua had three block assists with Ostrowski adding two.  Kirby, Brandt, and Quinonez each added one block assist.

STEPHENS BOX SCORE
 
AIB College – Saturday Morning
 
AIB had early leads in all three sets against the Bobcats, but Peru State prevailed in their second three-set sweep of the tournament.
 
The Eagles had a 4-3 advantage in the first set before Hull went to the service line and took Peru State out to a 10-4 lead.  After that, the Bobcats did not look back in route to a 25-11 set win.
 
AIB jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second set and still led 6-2 until Hull once again went back to serve.  The 'Cats went up 7-6 before the Eagles stopped the rally.  The set was still tied at 11-11 before the Bobcats took the lead for good at 13-11.  Peru State took the second set 25-20.
 
The Eagles had a 16-9 lead in the third set before Peru State eventually came back to take the lead while Hope Harsh (Cassoday, Kan.) was serving.  The 'Cats took a 20-19 lead, but AIB was not finished.  The Eagles went up 24-23 before the Bobcats stormed back for a 26-24 win and another three-set sweep.
 
No Bobcat finished in double figures with kills as it was a balanced hitting attack.  Kirby led the team with nine kills and hit .500.  Quinonez added six skills and Boras added five.
 
Jurek led the team with 21 assists while Meg Grose (Peoria, Ariz.), in her first time setting for Peru State, added 12 assists. 
 
Kirby led the team with three service aces while Hull added two.  Ostrowski, Grose, Jurek, and Harsh each had one service ace.
 
Hull had 12 digs in the win with Liewer and Jurek each contributing nine.  Grose added six digs with Lukasiewicz finishing with five.
 
Ostrowski was huge at the net finishing with five solo blocks and three block assists.  Soifua added four solo blocks, while Boras, Kirby, and Quinonez finished with one apiece.  Boras added four block assists, Quinonez had two, and Brandt added one.

AIB BOX SCORE
 
Haskell – Saturday Afternoon
 
The Bobcats took the first set against Haskell fairly easily as they held the Indians to .077 hitting and won 25-18.  The Indians turned the table against Peru State in the final three sets 25-23, 25-22, and 25-15 to claim the win.
 
Kirby led the team with 12 kills while Soifua added nine.  Brandt and Lierz each added seven while Ostrowski contributed six.
 
Jurek finished with 33 assists with Young adding nine.
 
Peru State managed only one service ace and Lukasiewicz had that one.
 
Four Bobcats were in double digits with digs and were led by Hull with 29.  Liewer added 21 while Jurek and Lukasiewicz added 15 and 12 respectively.
 
Boras and Kirby each had two solo blocks with Soifua and Brandt each adding one.  Soifua had seven block assists with Jurek, Kirby, and Lierz each adding one.

HASKELL BOX SCORE

Upcoming Games
 
Peru State will play give games this week, all on the road. 
 
On Tuesday night, the Bobcats will be in Springfield, Mo., and will take on Evangel University in a Heart of America Athletic Conference game at 4 p.m.  Currently, Evangel is 11-4 overall and 1-1 in the Heart.  At 6 p.m., the 'Cats will face William Woods University (Mo.).  The Owls are 10-8 at this point in the season.
 
York College will host a quadrangular on Friday and Saturday.  Peru State's opponent on Friday night at 5 p.m. will be Bethel College (Kan.).  The Threshers are currently 6-9.  On Saturday, the Bobcats will face the hosts at noon.  Presently, the Panthers are 2-11.  At 2 p.m., the 'Cats will take on Central Christian College (Kan.).  The Tigers are 4-10 on the season.  York and Central are both former conference opponents of the Bobcats when Peru State was still in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC).
 
The following Tuesday, Sept. 30, Peru State will be back home hosting conference opponent MidAmerica Nazarene University at 7 p.m. in the Al Wheeler Activity Center.