Peru State College Athletics

(Peru, Ne.)- The Peru State College volleyball team suffered a 3-0 setback against Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Central Methodist on Saturday afternoon, the Eagles emerged victorious with a set line of 24-26, 28-30, and 18-25.
 
The Bobcats fall to 12-8 overall and 4-5 in Heart play while Central Methodist rises to 12-7 overall and 6-2 in Conference action.
 
After an Eagle kill opened the first set Peru State would respond with a 7-3 run with four kills from Brinley Falkinburg (Lincoln, Nebraska. / Lincoln East High School) to hold a three-point edge (7-4), Central Methodist found three-straight to even the score at seven but a string of Eagle errors would spark an 8-2 run to force a Central Methodist timeout (15-9). The Eagles broke out from the timeout and exploded into an 11-2 series to snatch a three-point advantage (20-17). The Bobcats would score the next three to even the set (20-20), until Central Methodist found four of the next five to bring the series to set point (24-21). Three straight kills from Peru State would lock the set at 24, but two swift points from the Eagles would capture the first set 26-24.
 
Set two opened with neither team able to pull away until a 5-1 Central Methodist run would pull them into a five-point lead 13-8, After a timeout the Bobcats would use a 7-2 stretch to claw back and tie the set at 15. Both teams began to swap points until a 6-1 Peru State push gave the home team a four-point lead 22-18, Central Methodist would score three straight to force a Bobcat timeout but the Bobcats would find back-to-back points to bring the series to match point (24-21). The Eagles roared back with four unanswered to make the series set point for the visitors (25-24) and Peru State would score four of the next six to find themselves two more situations holding match point (28-27) until Central Methodist would deliver three unanswered and capture set two 30-28.
 
The third set started with a 9-3 series from Central Methodist to hold a six-point lead, The Bobcats would score five straight to cut the lead to one (9-8) but a 7-1 run would extend the visitor advantage to seven (16-9). After some back and forth Peru State would go for a 4-0 spurt to bring the lead down to three (19-16), until a 6-2 Eagle series would streal the set and the win 25-18.
 
Offensively The Bobcats were led by Addison Schneider (Humphrey, Nebraska. / Humphrey High School) who logged 11 kills off of a .409 clip while Shealie Wiebers (Papillion, Nebraska. / Papillion-La Vista High School) totaled 10 kills, Teodora Bulatovic (Tivat, Montenegro. / SMŠ "Mladost" Tivat) paced the team with 19 assists while Samantha Chesley (Lincoln, Nebraska. / Pius X High School) totaled 13. Braelyn Braithwaite (Elkhorn, Nebraska. / Elkhorn South High School) led the Bobcats with two service aces.
 
Braithwaite also paced the Bobcat defense with 18 total digs while Chesley contributed with 13, Schneider led the blocking efforts with two solo blocks and an assist for three total.
 
Peru State is back on the court Friday, October 9^th where the Bobcats travel to take on St. Ambrose on the road.