(Peru, Neb.) – On Friday, September 17, Mount Mercy University won their second Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart) game of the 2021 volleyball season as they beat the Bobcats 3-1. The Mustangs improved to 6-5 overall and 2-0 in the Heart.
 
The 'Cats fell to 2-11 overall and 0-2 in the Heart.
 
Game Action
 
Peru State was able to strike first in set one off the kill from Hailey VanLeuven (Elgin, Ore.) off the pass from Cassie Davis (Colorado Springs, Colo.). The game would be tied at one, two, three, four, and five.
 
The Mustangs would then go on a 6-0 run to go ahead 11-5 before an attacking error would give the service back to the Bobcats. Mount Mercy would go on another 5-2 run to make the score 17-8.
 
Peru State would score four straight points. The first was a kill by Alexandra Chavarria (Hollister, Calif.) off the pass from Davis. The second was an attacking error on the Mustangs. The third was a kill for VanLeuven off the pass from Davis. The fourth point would be an attacking error to make the score 17-12 in favor of the Mustangs.
 
The Mustangs would go on to win the first set 25-13.
 
Mount Mercy would get two straight points right off the back to take the early 2-0 lead in the game. The 'Cats would get on the board with a service error. The game would be tied at three after Tiana Cornist (Bellevue) would get a kill off the assist from Davis.
 
Peru State would continue to score as they would lead 5-3 after an error on the Mustangs. Mount Mercy would get back in the game and take the lead after a 7-1 run to lead 10-6.
 
Peru State would fight back and tie the game at 14 and then take the lead after the kill by VanLeuven off an assist from Davis with the score at 15-14. Peru State would not trail the rest of the second set as they would win 25-21.
 
The third set would start off with a kill by Paige Crouch (Holton, Kan.) off the assist from Hannia Rios (Toa Baja, P.R.). The 'Cats would get back-to-back kills from Chavarria off the pass from Davis to take an early 4-1 lead in the set.
 
The game would eventually be tied at four and eight. Mount Mercy would take the lead 9-8 and then go on 16-2 run to win the third set 25-10.
 
The 'Cats would jump out to a quick four-point lead off a service ace from Davis, a kill by Michelle Beer (Salem), another service ace from Davis, and kill by Dawson Sharman (Sidney). The Bobcats biggest lead in the four set would be 7-2.
 
Mount Mercy would fight back and tie the game at ten and take the lead 11-10. The scoring would go back and forth as there were many lead changes in the game. The Mustangs would eventually be able to pull away off a 10 to 2 run to win the fourth set 25-18.

Stats
 
Davis led the team with three service aces.
 
VanLeuven led the team with nine kills. Crouch added five kills.
 
Davis led the team with 17 assists and Rios added nine assists.
 
Cheyenne Birkle (Holden, Mo.) had a team-high 19 digs while Davis added 17 digs.
 
Cornist and Paige each had four block assists.