(Peru, Neb.) – It was a night of firsts for the Bobcat volleyball team.
 
Peru State was hosting its first-ever Heart of America Athletic Conference post-season volleyball match Saturday night. With its four-set win over Culver-Stockton (C-SC) (Mo.) 22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 27-25, it was the Bobcats' first-ever Heart post-season win since joining the conference five years ago.  The final first is that it was Peru State's 25^th win of the season – the first time in at least 15 years that the Bobcats have won that many matches in one season.
 
The Bobcats are now 25-12 on the season while the Wildcats finished their season at 10-16. Peru State will move on to face MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) Wednesday night in Olathe, Kan., in the Heart semifinals. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

 
First Set Action
 
Peru State was slow to get going in the first set as the Wildcats led throughout. C-SC jumped to a 3-0 lead before Jhessica Martins (Uberlandia, Brazil) put down a kill on an assist from Meg Grose (Peoria, Ariz.). The Wildcats led by as many as six at 14-8. Peru State did close the gap to two at 21-20 after a solo block by Nadja Janjevic (Podgorica, Montenegro). A service ace by Peru State made it 22-20 before Janjevic got a kill from Grose to make it 22-21. The Wildcats eventually won 25-22.
 
Second Set Action
 
Martins pounded a kill to start the second set off an assist from Brooke Rudebusch (Moorpark, Calif.) to start the second set. Peru State built a four-point lead at 7-3 on a service ace by Savannah Moore (Idaho Falls, Idaho).  The Wildcats would eventually come back to tie it at 13-13 before Cristal Quinonez (Anthony, N.M.) put down a kill from Grose. Again, C-SC would fight back and tie the game at 16-16 and later at 19-19. After an attack error, Peru State went up 20-19 and then added another point when Rian Kirby (Gretna) had a kill from Rudebusch. This was followed by a solo block by Kirby. The Wildcats did get a kill to stop the run at 23-21. Janjevic and Nohely Perez (Caracas, Venezuela) combined for a block for the 24^th point and then a setting error was called on the Wildcats to give Peru State the 25-21 win.
 
Third Set Action
 
It was a tight one early in the third set as the score was tied on nine different occasions. The Wildcats scored the first couple of points before Kirby and Rudebusch combined for a kill which was followed by an attack error on C-SC.  The last tie came at 13-13 before Perez and Janjevic combined for a block which gave the Bobcats the lead for good. A Wildcat attack error ended the third set with a Bobcat 25-19 win.

 
Fourth Set Action
 
Peru State took a 2-0 lead on a kill by Kirby from Rudebusch and then an attack error by the Wildcats. After the Bobcats led 4-2, Culver-Stockton scored four straight points to go up 6-4 before another attacking error gave Peru State a point. The Bobcats would tie it at 8-8 on another Wildcat attack error, but C-SC would come back with four straight points to lead 12-8. Culver-Stockton would maintain that lead and eventually stretched it to 22-15 and it looked like the Wildcats would force a fifth and deciding set.
 
A kill by Martins from Rudebusch was followed by a Wildcat attack error to make it 22-17. Gianna Gangi (Simi Valley, Calif.) came through with a service ace to cut it to 22-18 before the Wildcats put down a kill to lead 23-18. A kill by Kirby from Gangi was followed by a hitting error to make it 23-20. Culver-Stockton did get to set point on the next play before Peru State rattled off four points to knot it at 24-24 with Janjevic and Lea Boras (Makarska, Croatia) combined for a block to tie it. Again, the Wildcats had set point after a kill. But, Peru State was not out of it. Boras hit a kill from Grose which was followed by a Martins kill on an assist from Grose to put Peru State up 26-25. The match went to the Bobcats when Culver-Stockton had an attack error.

CULVER-STOCKTON GAME BOOK
 
Statistics
 
Blocking was a key to the Peru State win as they had ten blocks compared to C-SC's three. As a team, the Bobcats hit .286 while the Wildcats finished at .211.
 
Martins had a game-high 21 kills while hitting .372. Kirby was the only other Bobcat to finish in double figures as she had 14 kills while hitting a remarkable .467. Perez and Janjevic each had five kills.

 
Rudebusch and Grose handled the setting duties and finished with 25 and 23 respectively.
 
Shannon Liewer (Imperial) had two service aces while Grose, Moore, and Gangi each are credited with one.
 
Liewer finished with a game-high 25 digs with Moore adding nine. Grose finished with seven digs.
 
Janjevic, Alex Bowman (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), and Kirby were each credited with one solo block. Janjevic added four block assists with Bowman adding three. Boras, Kirby, and Perez each had two block assists with Martins credited with one.

Career Update

With her 25 digs, Liewer moved into fourth in the single-season record books as she has 731 on the season. This moved her ahead of Lindsey Baumgartner who had 725 in 2005.
 
Upcoming Game
 
The Bobcats will travel to face the Pioneers as MidAmerica Nazarene swept Missouri Valley on Saturday to improve to 23-9 overall. Earlier in the season, Peru State handed the Pioneers their only Heart conference loss. However, it inspired MidAmerica Nazarene as they turned around and topped Evangel (Mo.) in the final conference game of the season to take the league title.