(Peru, Neb.) – It was a tight battle in Olathe, Kan., Thursday night, just like it has been in Peru State's previous two Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart) losses.
 
The MidAmerica Nazarene (MNU) Pioneers defeated the Bobcats 25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 25-15, 15-9 to win their eighth Heart match against one loss. MNU is now 21-6 overall. Peru State fell to 30-8 overall and 8-3 in the Heart.

 
First Set Action
 
There were ten ties in the first set, most coming early in the set. The last tie came at 11-11 after Jhessica Martins (Uberlandia, Brazil) tied it for Peru State with a kill. MNU came back with a kill and led the rest of the way in the set to the 25-20 win.
 
Second Set Action
 
Similar to the first set, there were nine ties in the second set, but most came late in the set. Peru State got on the board first with a service error by the Pioneers. Back-to-back errors on both teams made it 2-1 Bobcats before Kira Shapiro (Omaha) put down consecutive kills off assists from Brooke Rudebusch (Moorpark, Calif.) to make it 4-1 Peru State. The 'Cats would extend their lead to 11-6 forcing a Pioneer timeout. MNU would come back to tie it at 14-14. Peru State would respond with four straight points forcing another Pioneer timeout. MNU would rattle off five points to take the lead, but then committed a service error to tie the game at 19-19. After the score was tied at 23-23, a kill by Jennifer Ostrowski (Kankakee, Ill.) off an assist from Meg Grose (Peoria, Ariz.) would put Peru State up 24-23. A block by Nadja Janjevic (Podgorica, Montenegro) would be the final Bobcat set point.

 
Third Set Action
 
Another tight set throughout started with an MNU error. The largest lead by either team was three as MNU led 9-6 before the 'Cats would come back and tie it at 9-9. Peru State would have their largest lead at 19-16 before MNU would tie it up at 19-19. Peru State would be aided by several Pioneer errors moving them out to a 23-21 lead. After the Pioneers got a kill to cut it to 23-22, MNU had a serving error to make it 24-22 Peru State. Rian Kirby (Gretna) landed a kill off an assist from Grose to give the Bobcats the third set win.
 
Fourth Set Action
 
The early part of the set was tight as it was tied at 6-6 before MNU went on a roll and jumped out to an 11-6 advantage. The Pioneers would continue to increase their lead and eventually won 25-15.
 
Fifth Set Action

 
A Janjevic kill from Rudebusch tied the game at 1-1, but the Pioneers came back to take the lead for good with a kill. Peru State was within three at 11-8 and 12-9, but could not pull any closer.

MNU GAME BOOK
 
Statistics
 
The Pioneers out-hit the Bobcats .268 to .153 on their way to a win.
 
Just two Bobcats were in double-digit kills. Yorgelys Jaspe (San Carlos, Venezuela) led the Bobcats with 12 kills while Shapiro finished with 11. Ostrowski and Janjevic both added eight kills while Ostrowski finished with a team-high .438 hitting percentage. Kirby added six kills while Martins finished with five.
 
Rudebusch and Grose led the setting efforts with 27 and 14 assists respectively.
 
Grose had a game-high three service aces while Jaspe finished with one.
 
Cristina Viera (Montevideo, Uruguay) had a game-high 22 digs while Jaspe added 12 for a double-double. Grose added nine digs while Gianna Gangi (Simi Valley, Calif.) added eight.
 
Ostrowski, Shapiro, Janjevic, and Martins each finished with one solo block. Janjevic added six block assists while Shapiro added four and Kirby contributed two.
 
Upcoming Matches
 
Peru State has two more regular-season matches before heading into the Heart post-season tournament.
 
On Tuesday, Oct. 25, the Bobcats will host Missouri Valley at 6 p.m. It will be Senior Night for the Peru State volleyball and cross country seniors. Presently, the Vikings are 7-3 in the Heart, just one-half game behind the 'Cats and will play Avila (Mo.) before coming to Peru. Missouri Valley is 25-7 overall.
 
Then, one week later, the Bobcats will travel to Lamoni, Iowa, to take on the Graceland University Yellowjackets at 7 p.m. Graceland is presently 13-13 on the year and are 2-6 in the Heart and will play four conference matches before facing Peru State.
 
The Heart conference post-season begins Nov. 3 as the seventh through tenth seeds will play to determine the final two spots for quarter-final action which will begin on Saturday, Nov. 5. The top four seeds will host. If Peru State would win their final two matches, it would appear they would host on Nov. 5.