(Peru, Neb.) – The home-standing Mount Mercy Mustangs picked up their first win of the season as they topped the Peru State volleyball team Friday night in straight sets.

The Mustangs won 25-12, 25-14, 25-18 to improve to 1-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart). It was the first match of the season for the Bobcats as they had their first two weeks wiped out due to most of the team being quarantined due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
Set One
 
Peru State scored the opening point of the set on a Mustang attack error. Mount Mercy would score the next three points and never trailed the rest of the way. The Mustangs would build an 11-4 lead before an attack error gave the 'Cats a point. It would be followed by a kill by Jaime Copenharve (Omaha) off an assist from Hannah Burianek (Lincoln).
 
Mount Mercy would continue to pull away from the Bobcats and eventually won 25-12.
 
Set Two
 
After the Mustangs scored the first point, Sidney Peck (Manitoba, Canada) would score a kill off an assist from Hannia Rios (Toa Baja, P.R.) to tie it. Peru State would gain another point off an attack error only to see the Mustangs tie it up at 3-3. Mount Mercy would score the next two points to go up 5-3.
 
Haley VanLeuven (Elgin, Ore.) would put one down the line off an assist from Rios to make it 5-4 and then Burianek would tie the set at 5 each with a service ace. That would end up being the last time the Bobcats would be tied in the set as the Mustangs would slowly pull away for the 25-14 win.
Set Three
 
The final set was a little tighter than the first two, but the Mustangs were pretty much in control throughout.
 
A kill by Ofa Moungaafi (West Valley City, Utah) off an assist from Copenharve gave the 'Cats the first point of the set. After the Mustangs tied it, Moungaafi was credited with a solo block to give Peru State the lead back.
 
Mount Mercy would eventually tie it at 4-4 and then rattled off four more points and never were really threatened the rest of the way.
 
Peru State put together a late 3-0 run after trailing 23-14 which included a block by VanLeuven and Jaddy Duarte (Brasilia, Brazil).

Mount Mercy Box Score
 
Team Statistics
 
Mount Mercy outhit the 'Cats as they had 36 kills while hitting .198. Peru State managed just 21 kills and finished with a .020 hitting percentage.
 
The Mustangs landed six service aces while the Bobcats finished with two while committing 11 errors. Mount Mercy led in digs 56-36 and in blocks 7 to 4.
Peru Individual Statistics
 
VanLeuven led the team with five kills while Copenharve and Paige Crouch (Holton, Kan.) each added four kills.
 
Rios led the team with ten assists with Burianek adding six. Rios and Burianek each had one service ace.
 
Cheyenne Birkle (Holden, Mo.) and Peck led the team with 12 and 11 digs respectively. Arianna Waschowski (Bellevue) added eight digs.
 
Moungaafi was credited with two solo blocks while Duarte had two block assists. Crouch and VanLeuven each had one block assist.
 
Upcoming Contests
 
Peru State was back in action on Saturday as they headed to Cedar Rapids to first take on Heart opponent Clarke at 1 p.m. and then are scheduled to play National Christian College Athletic Association opponent Northwestern of Minnesota.