(Peru, Neb.) – It was senior night for five Peru State volleyball players and those five did everything they could to make sure they would go out on the right note.
 
In a match that was extremely important to the Bobcats' post-season play, the five seniors combined to get 63 of 68 kills and six of seven solo blocks to help lead Peru State to a big win over the visiting William Penn (Iowa) (WPU) Statesmen.
 
The 'Cats ended up winning 25-13, 24-26, 23-25, 25-14, 15-13 to improve to 12-19 overall and more importantly, the Bobcats picked up their eighth Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart) win to seal the north division third seed. William Penn finished their regular season with a 19-15 record and 6-12 in the Heart.

 
First Set Action
 
The first part of the set was very tight and it went back and forth until being tied at 10-10. An attack error by WPU gave Peru State a lead they would not relinquish. Peru State would continue to pull away before Kira Shapiro (Omaha) put down a kill from Darlene Quinonez Holguin (Las Cruces, N.M.) for the 25^th point.
 
Second Set Action
 
Nadja Janjevic (Podgorica, Montenegro) got a kill from Quinonez Holguin to start the second set and then had a solo block to make it 2-0 Peru State. It looked like the 'Cats were going to pull away as they had in the first set as they eventually had a five-point lead at 13-8 after a Statesmen miscue.
 
WPU would rattle off five straight points before Cami Ruiz (Bogota, Columbia) would get a kill from Hannah Burianek (Lincoln) to make it 14-13. Another error by the Statesmen was followed by a Claire Cudney (Marysville, Kan.) service ace and suddenly the 'Cats were back up by three again.
 
Peru State would stretch its lead again to five at 19-14 after a ball handling error was called on WPU. But, the Statesmen were not done. They fought off four straight set points after trailing 24-22 to win 26-24.
 
Third Set Action
 
The third set was eerily similar to the second set as the Bobcats would jump out to a 10-4 lead with Yorgelys Jaspe (San Carlos, Venezuela) put down a kill from Quinonez Holguin. Peru State still led until the Statesmen came back to tie it at 14-14. Again, the 'Cats would come back, first with two kills by Jaspe, followed by one from Shapiro, and then another from Jaspe to make it 18-14.
 
William Penn would rally back and tie it at 19-19 and then take the lead with a service ace. Shapiro and Quinonez Holguin would combine to tie it and then WPU had another attacking error and Peru State was back in front at 21-20. A solo block from Janjevic made it 22-20 and it was looking like the 'Cats were in control.
 
However, they were not as the Statesmen finished the set on a 5-1 run to take it 25-23 and lead the match two sets to one.
 
Fourth Set Action
 
The fourth set started off with a bang for the Bobcats as they jumped to a 5-0 lead coming off kills from Shapiro and Ruiz and two service aces by Burianek. Peru State would extend its lead to 11 at 14-3 after Shapiro put down another kill.  
The Bobcats would extend their lead to 14 at 23-9 after Taylor Thompson (Norfolk) served up an ace. The Statesmen would score five of the next six points, but a kill by Jaspe from Burianek gave Peru State the 25-14 set win which forced a fifth and deciding set.
 
Fifth Set Action
 
The Bobcats again jumped to an early lead and led by three at 4-1 early after Ruiz put down a kill from Burianek. The Statesmen would eventually come back and tie it at 6-6 and then again at 7-7 before Thompson got a kill to put Peru State up 8-7 when the teams switched courts.
 
The 'Cats would hold onto the lead and actually led 13-10 before the Statesmen would score three straight to tie it at 13-13. After a Bobcat time out, William Penn had a service error to give Peru State a 14-13 lead. Then the final point came on a Statesmen attack error.

WILLIAM PENN GAME BOOK
 
Team Statistics
 
Peru State hit .213 while holding WPU to .124. The 'Cats had 62 assists compared to 48 for the Statesmen.

 
The Bobcats had seven service aces and five errors while only allowing two aces by William Penn who had six serving errors.
 
The teams had many long rallies as Peru State finished with 121 digs and the Statesman had 106.
 
The 'Cats had seven solo blocks and six block assists while WPU finished with one solo and 17 block assists.
 
Individual Statistics
 
The seniors were one kill short of having all five in double digits in kills.
 
Jaspe led the Bobcats with a match-high 20 kills while Janjevic added 13. Shapiro finished with 11 while Ruiz had a season-high ten kills. Thompson was just one shy as she finished with nine kills.
 
Burianek and Quinonez Holguin each had 29 assists.
 
Thompson had a game-high three service aces with Burianek and Cudney each adding two.
 
Cudney tied for game-high honors with 35 digs while Thompson added 34 – another season best. Jaspe finished with a double double as she had 13 digs. Arianna Waschowski (Bellevue) contributed ten digs with Quinonez Holguin finishing with eight.
 
Janjevic finished with a match-high four solo blocks and added two block assists. Jaspe was credited with two solo blocks while Tyra Mollhoff (Lincoln) added one solo block. Shapiro finished with two block assists.
 
Upcoming Games
 
Peru State has one more regular-season match and that will take place Monday night when they face the second-ranked Grand View Vikings in Des Moines, Iowa, at 7 p.m. The Vikings are 28-0 overall and are a perfect 17-0 in the Heart action.
 
As the third seed in the North Division of the Heart, it appears the Bobcats will face Benedictine (Kan.) in Atchison on Nov. 3 for their first post-season action. The Ravens finished their regular season as the second seed in the Heart South with a 10-7 conference mark and 16-13 overall record.