(Peru, Neb.) – It was a long hard-fought match in Baldwin City, Kan., Saturday night in a battle of the 'Cats.
 
In the end, the Peru State Bobcat volleyball team prevailed with a five-set victory over the host Baker Wildcats.
 
Peru State won 24-26, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 15-4.
 
With the win, the Bobcats improved to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart). Baker fell to 1-3 – all in Heart conference action.
 
First Set Action
 
A kill by Pyper Roseberry (La Vista) from Hannia Rios (Toa Baja, P.R.) gave Peru State the first point of the set which was close throughout as it saw 13 ties and three lead gains.

 
The Bobcats actually had the largest lead of the set when Hailey VanLeuven (Elgin, Ore.) put down a kill on an assist from Cassie Davis (Colorado Springs). Peru State led 15-10 at that point, but eventually Baker fought back with an 8-2 run to lead 18-17.
 
Baker would move out to a 23-20 advantage before Jaddy Duarte (Brasilia, Brazil) got a kill off an assist from Arianna Waschowski (Bellevue) to make it 23-21. A block by VanLeuven and Tyra Mollhoff (Lincoln) pulled the Bobcats within one before Baker got a kill for set point.
 
Peru State would get a kill from Roseberry off an assist from Rios and then benefitted from an attack error to knot the set at 24. But Baker would score the next two points to take the 26-24 set win.
 
Second Set Action
 
Again, another tight set for most of it as there were another 13 ties and three lead changes. Baker's only lead came at the beginning of the set, but they continually tied it up.
 
Peru State would have a 16-13 lead only to see Baker tie it at 16-16 and then again at 17. A kill by Duarte from Rios would give the Bobcats the lead for good.
 
The Bobcats' largest lead of the set came on the last point as Duarte put down a kill on an assist from Jaime Copenharve (Omaha).

 
Third Set Action
 
Baker led the third set after breaking a 1-1 tie and would then score five straight points to take a 6-1 lead. The Wildcats would lead by as many as eight before the Bobcats would get to 23-19 after a kill by Roseberry. But Baker finished off the set with two straight points.
 
Fourth Set Action
 
Another close set throughout which saw nine ties and four lead changes. Baker took an early 9-5 lead before Peru State eventually went ahead 10-9 after a Wildcat attack error.
 
The Bobcats would eventually lead by six at 20-14 after Davis had a service ace. The Wildcats would not go away as they score six straight points to tie it at 20-20. A service error gave Peru State the lead which was followed by back-to-back service aces by Mattie Nichols (Auburn). Dawson Sharman (Sidney) would get the 24^th point on an assist from Davis and then Paige Crouch (Holton, Kan.) put down the final point with a kill.
 
Fifth Set Action
 
Baker scored the first point only to see Peru State tie it at 1-1 on a kill by Mollhoff from Davis. Another Mollhoff/Davis combination actually gave the Bobcats the lead for good.

 
The Wildcats looked out of sorts in the final set as Waschowski had a service ace for the final point and the first Bobcat win of the season.

BAKER GAME BOOK
 
Team Statistics
 
For the first time this season, Peru State outhit its opponent, but not by much. The Bobcats hit .147 while Baker finished at .142. However, the Bobcats had 57 kills while taking 23 more swings than Baker.
 
The Peru State serving game also saw its best night with 15 aces, but also had 12 errors while Baker had seven aces and 13 errors.
 
The Bobcats finished with 61 digs and six total blocks. Baker had 42 digs and seven blocks.
 
Peru Individual Statistics
 
VanLeuven led the team with 13 kills and hit a respectable .333. Duarte had ten kills while Sharman finished with nine. Mollhoff contributed eight with Roseberry finishing with eight.
 
Davis led the team with 22 assists with Rios adding 17.

 
Nichols had a career-high five service aces with Cheyenne Birkle (Holden, Mo.) adding three. Waschowski, Duarte, and Davis each had two while Hannah Burianek (Lincoln) added one.
 
Birkle led the team with 20 digs while Nichols and Davis each finished with ten. Waschowski had seven digs while Rios finished with six.
 
Mollhoff led the team with four block assists while Roseberry, VanLeuven, Duarte, and Copenharve were each credited with two block assists.
 
Upcoming Contests
 
If someone had looked at the volleyball schedule ten days ago, you would have seen four matches for the upcoming week. However, due to Covid-19 quarantining, Peru State will only play one match this week and it will be on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 11 a.m.

The Bobcats will be hosting Culver-Stockton (Mo.) in a Heart match-up. The Wildcats are presently 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the Heart and will also have some of their matches this week moved as well.
 
Peru State is working with the teams who are quarantining to determine future dates for the three postponed matches.