(Peru, Neb.) – On Saturday, September 25, the Wildcats of Baker University came to the Al Wheeler Activity Center in Peru. They left with a 3-0 win to improve to 5-10 overall and 3-1 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
 
The Bobcats fell to 3-15 overall and 1-5 in the conference.
 
Peru State would get on the board first with a kill from Paige Crouch (Holton, Kan.) off set from Hannia Rios (Toa Baja, P.R.) to give the Bobcats the early 1-0 lead in set one. The Wildcats would come back and score a point to tie the game.
 
The Bobcats would take the lead right back after a kill from Michelle Beer (Salem) off the set from Alexandra Chavarria (Hollister, Calif.) for a 2-1 advantage for Peru State.
 
The game would be close as both teams would trade points away as the there would be ties at three, four, five, six, and seven before Baker would take a tow point lead at 10-8. The Bobcats would fight back as they would tie the game once against at ten with a service ace from Alyssa Bock (Plattsmouth).
 
After two attacking errors on the Wildcats, Peru State saw a 12-10 lead. The game would be tied at 13 and Baker would take the lead 14-13. The Wildcats never trailed after that winning the first set 25-20.
 
The Wildcats start off with the first point of set number two, but the Bobcats would tie the game with a kill from Chavarria off the set from Cassie Davis (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
 
The game would be tied at three, six, and seven before Baker would take the lead 8-7. The Wildcats would go on a 10-2 run to take a 18-9 lead over Peru State. Baker would go on to win set number two 25-17.
 
Crouch would start set three off with a kill for the Bobcats off the pass from Rios for a 1-0 lead. Baker would score four straight points to led 4-1. Peru State would stop the run with kill from Chavarria off the set from Davis to bring the Bobcats back within two points at 4-2 in favor of the Wildcats.
 
Another 3-1 run for Baker saw their advantage go to 7-3 over the Bobcats. Peru State was able to fight back with two straight points. First was a kill from Chavarria off the set from Davis and the second was a kill from Jaddy Duarte (Brasilia, Brazil) off the set from Rios.
 
Peru State was able to take a 21-20 lead off a service ace from Mattie Nichols (Auburn). Baker ended the game on a 5-0 run to win set number three 25-21.
 
Stats
 
Nichols led the team with two service aces.
 
Chavarria led the team with 11 kills. Duarte had eight kills while Crouch added seven kills.
 
Cheyenne Birkle (Holden, Mo.) was tied for game-high in digs with 16. Nichols was second on the team in digs with eight.
 
Davis led the team with 19 assists while Rios added 15 assists.
 
Chavarria, Beer, Hailey VanLeuven (Elgin, Ore.), and Duarte each had block assist.
 
Upcoming Games
 
Peru State will be on the road Tuesday as they take on Bellevue University. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The Bruins are presently 11-2 on the season and are ranked 11^th in the NAIA.