(Peru, Neb.) – It was a match which had been postponed and then rescheduled and the hosts were not kind to the visitors.
 
The William Penn (WPU) Statesmen swept the visiting Peru State volleyball team Saturday night 25-10, 25-11, 25-17 to improve to 8-2 on the season and remain perfect at 3-0 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart).
 
The Bobcats fell to 1-5 on the season and are 0-3 in the Heart North Division.
 
The Heart's Council of Presidents (COP) recently approved a change in the remaining volleyball season due to Covid-19. Only Heart North Division games will count toward a division championship and will be used for seeding for the post-season tournament.

 
First Set Action
 
The Statesmen scored the first two points of the set and never trailed. Peru State got on the board with a kill by Tyra Mollhoff (Lincoln) off an assist from Cassie Davis (Colorado Springs) to cut it to 2-1. A 9-0 run allowed William Penn to taking a commanding 11-1 lead.
 
Second Set Action
 
Again, another fast start propelled WPU to a 5-0 lead before Haley VanLeuven (Elgin, Ore.) put down a spike from Hannia Rios (Toa Baja, P.R.) to get the 'Cats on the board. Back-to-back attack errors by the Statesmen made it 5-3 which would be as close as the Bobcats would be in the second set.
 
Third Set Action
 
Peru State was more competitive early in the third set. After WPU scored the first point, back-to-back Statesmen' errors gave the Bobcats a 2-1 lead. William Penn would come back with a pair of points before Mollhoff had another kill on an assist from Davis.
 
Later, a block by Pyper Roseberry (La Vista) and Jaddy Duarte (Brasilia, Brazil) gave Peru State a 7-6 lead. After William Penn scored two, Roseberry got a kill from Rios to tie the game at 8-8. Three straight points by WPU would give them a lead they would not relinquish.

WILLIAM PENN GAME BOOK
 
Team Statistics
 
William Penn hit .281 while holding the Bobcats to a negative hitting percentage at .43.

 
The Statesmen finished with nine service aces while not allowing one from Peru State.
 
The digs were fairly even with WPU finishing with 46 while the 'Cats had 40. The Statesmen out blocked the Bobcats six to two.
 
Peru Individual Statistics
 
Mollhoff was the only Bobcat to have more than five kills as she finished with seven.
 
Davis led the team with ten assists while Rios had five.
 
Mattie Nichols (Auburn) had a career-high 13 digs while Cheyenne Birkle (Holden, Mo.) added 12. Davis and Arianna Waschowski (Bellevue) each added five digs.
 
Mollhoff, Duarte, Roseberry, and Sidney Peck (Manitoba, Canada) each were credited with one block assist.
 
Upcoming Contests
 
As noted earlier in the release, the Heart COP has approved mainly a division-only schedule for the remainder of the season.
 
Peru State will next hit the court on Saturday, Oct. 10, when they host Culver-Stockton at 1 p.m. in a varsity only contest.
 
They will not play again until the following weekend when they host Mount Mercy on Friday and Clarke on Saturday.