(Peru, Neb.) – A season which saw a first and the most wins in approximately 15 years came to an end of the Peru State volleyball team Wednesday night.
 
The Bobcats were playing in the semifinals of the Heart of America Athletic Conference against MidAmerica Nazarene (MNU) in Olathe, Kan., and fell to the top-seeded Pioneers 25-16, 25-14, 20-25, 25-14. This was the first time the 'Cats had made the Heart post-season and then had won its first match to advance to the Heart semis.
 
Peru State finished the season with a 25-13 record which tops last year's win total of 24 and is the most in over a decade. MNU improved to 24-9 and will host Evangel on Saturday for the conference title.

 
First Set Action
 
There eight different ties in the first set with Peru State coming from behind in most of those. The Bobcats' largest lead was just one and it was early at 3-2 on a service ace by Nadja Janjevic (Podgorica, Montenegro). The last time it was tied was at 10-10 which came after a Pioneer attack error. MNU would score the next two points and while Lea Boras (Makarska, Croatia) put down a kill from Meg Grose (Peoria, Ariz.) to make it 12-11, that would be as close as Peru State would be the rest of the set.
 
Second Set Action
 
The first half of the second set was close with the Bobcats having a 13-12 lead after an MNU hitting error. The Pioneers would rattle off four straight points which put them in the lead for good as Peru State would only score one more point the rest of the set.

 
Third Set Action
 
There were 12 ties in the third set in which the Bobcats did maintain the lead for the majority of the set. The game was tied at 1-1, 2-2, 5-5, 6-6, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, and 13-13 before a Rian Kirby (Gretna) kill from Brooke Rudebusch (Moorpark, Calif.) put the Bobcats up for good. Peru State went out to a five-point lead at 21-16 on a Grose service ace. Kirby finished the set with a kill from Rudebusch as the 'Cats won 25-20.
 
Fourth Set Action
 
Peru State led 4-1 in the fourth set before the Pioneers rattled off five straight points to go up 6-4. A kill by Jhessica Martins (Uberlandia, Brazil) from Grose cut the deficit to 6-5, but it was pretty much all MNU the rest of the way. Nine straight points put the Pioneers in the lead at 15-5 and they coasted to the 25-14 set victory which gave them the match.

MNU GAME BOOK
 
Statistics
 

The Bobcats suffered from a poor hitting night as they finished the night hitting .049 while MNU hit .250.
 
Martins was the only Bobcat in double figures in hitting as she finished with 11 kills. Nohely Perez (Caracas, Venezuela) added eight kills.
 
Grose had 15 assists while Rudebusch added 14.
 
Janjevic had two service aces with Grose credited with one.
 
Shannon Liewer (Imperial) finished with a game-high 21 digs while Grose added eight.
 
Peru State was not credited with any solo blocks but had 18 block assists. Alex Bowman (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) led the way with five while Janjevic had four. Boras had three with Kirby and Cristal Quinonez (Anthony, N.M.) each adding two. Perez and Martins each were credited with one block assist.
 
Seniors Final Performance
 
It was the final competition for five seniors – Boras, Perez, Liewer, Quinonez, and Kelsey Young (Goodfield, Ill.).