(Peru, Neb.) – The Bobcat volleyball team has already matched its Heart of America Athletic Conference win total from last year after taking down Missouri Valley in Marshall, Mo., on Friday night. In addition, the 'Cats defeated York College after opening with the conference victory.
 
Peru State topped the Vikings 17-25, 25-13, 26-24, and 27-25 to improve to 3-1 in the Heart. Then, the Bobcats swept York College 25-19, 25-18, 25-20 in a non-conference game to improve to 12-8 overall.
  
First Set Notes
 
Early in the first set, it was tight with the Vikings leading by one at 13-12 after Nadja Janjevic (Podgorica, Montenegro) blocked a Mo Valley attack. After that, the Vikings slowly started to pull away for the 25-17 win.

 
Second Set Notes
 
There were four ties in the second set with the last coming at 5-5 before a service error by the Vikings gave Peru State the lead. The 'Cats stretched their lead to 17-10 on a Rian Kirby (Gretna) kill coming off an assist of Brooke Rudebusch (Moorpark, Calif.). Peru State continued to pull away and went onto a 25-13 set win.
 
Third Set Notes
 
Thirteen ties in the third set obviously indicated how tight the set was as the largest lead was five three times by Peru State with the last five-point advantage coming at 10-5 on a Cristal Quinonez (Anthony, N.M.) kills on an assist from Meg Grose (Peoria, Ariz.). The Vikings fought back and eventually took the lead at 14-13. Mo Valley held a four-point advantage at 23-19 before Peru State fought back to tie it at 23-23 on a Viking attack error. Missouri Valley did get the next point to lead to set point, but had another attack error to tie it at 24-24. Another attack error by the Vikings gave Peru State the 25-24 lead before Kirby had another kill off a Rudebusch assist.
 
Fourth Set Notes
 

The fourth set was similar to the third as there were several ties and lead changes. Mo Valley led by as many as five late at 21-16 before another attack error started a big Bobcat run. Late in the six-point run, Jhessica Martins (Uberlandia, Brazil) hit back-to-back kills with the first coming from Rudebusch to put the 'Cats up 22-21. The Vikings did tie it before Alex Bowman (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) put down a kill from Rudebusch to give the 'Cats the 23-22 lead. Missouri Valley did not give up as they took a 24-23 lead and had set-point again before Nohely Perez (Caracas, Venezuela) put down a kill to tie it at 24-24. After an attack error by Peru State to give the Vikings another set-point opportunity, a Viking attack error knotted it at 25-25. A Viking attack error, followed by  Viking setting error, gave Peru State the set and game.
 
Mo Valley Statistical Leaders
 
Martins and Kirby led the team with a game-high 13 and 11 kills respectively. Martins finished hitting .281 on the night. Perez added eight kills while Quinonez finished with seven.
 
Rudebusch led the team with 23 assists while Grose finished with 19.
 
Rudebusch, Janjevic, and Gianna Gangi (Simi Valley, Calif.) each had one service ace.
 
Shannon Liewer (Imperial) had 30 game-high digs to lead the Bobcat defense. Grose and Savannah Moore (Idaho Falls, Idaho) each had eight digs while Gangi added seven.

 
Janjevic had five solo blocks and one block assist. Bowman added three solo blocks while Quinonez had one solo block. Kirby finished with one solo block and one block assist.

MISSOURI VALLEY GAME BOOK
  
Peru State held the Panthers to a .094 hitting percentage and out-blocked York 7 to 2 in route to their sweep.
 
Kirby led the team with 13 kills while hitting .324. Lea Boras (Makarska, Croatia) added ten kills and hit .222.
 
Rudebusch finished with 18 assists while Grose added 14.
 
Gangi led the team with two service aces while Liewer, Grose, Kirby, and Janjevic each added one.
 
Liewer had 17 digs with Rudebusch and Moore each adding five.
 

Bowman finished with one solo block and five block assists. Boras and Kirby each were credited with three block assists while Janjevic added one.

YORK STATISTICS
 
Upcoming Games
 
The Bobcats are back in action on Monday night when they host conference foe Avila University at 7 p.m. in the AWAC. Currently, the Eagles are 7-8 (with one game not reported) and are still looking for their first conference win after four losses.
 
A special event will occur during Peru State's game on Thursday, Oct. 1. The Bobcats will host a "Middle School Appreciation Day" when Heart opponent Evangel University visits. The 9^th-ranked Crusaders are presently undefeated at 19-0 and are 4-0 in Heart action. Evangel will play three additional games before visiting the AWAC.
 
Middle school students from Auburn, Johnson-Brock, Rock Port, and potentially Nebraska City Lourdes will be in attendance at the event.
 
Then, on Saturday, Peru State will travel to Lawrence, Kan., where they will play to non-conference games at Haskell Indian Nations University. The Bobcats will face 7-14 Johnson & Wales University (Colo.) at 1 p.m. and then will take on the 2-12 Fighting Indians at 3 p.m.