Peru State College Athletics

(St. Louis, Mo.)- The Peru State College Volleyball team was defeated 3-0 by first-seed Missouri Baptist in the opening round of the 2026 Heart Women's Volleyball Conference Tournament on Saturday night. Peru State would fall in a scoreline of 18-25, 14-25, and 13-25.
 
The loss will see the Bobcats season end with 19 wins, the most in a season since 2016 where Peru State went 32-9 overall.
 
The Spartans would score five of the opening nine points of the first set before Peru State would score three straight capped off by a block from Addison Schneider (Humphrey, Nebraska / Humphrey High School) and Alexus Ford (Alma, Kansas / Wabaunsee High School) to take a two-point lead (7-5). A 5-1 push from Missouri Baptist would bring a two-point advantage (10-8) until a 3-1 run from the Bobcats would knot the set at 11, then the Spartans would find a 3-1 run of their own to make the score 14-12. Both teams would swap points until after an error from the home team would cut the edge to one (16-15), Missouri Baptist would see a 7-1 series pull the lead up to seven (23-16). Peru State would score two of the next three, but a kill from the Spartans would end the first set 25-18.
 
The second set began with a 7-2 burst from Missouri Baptist until the Bobcats would score three straight to bring the lead down to two (7-5), Missouri Baptist would answer with a 6-2 series to bring the advantage to six (13-7) and never look back as after an error from the Spartans would make the score 13-8, the home team would use runs of 7-2 and 5-3 to take the second set 25-14.
 
The third set opened with both teams battling for position in a six point series until a 9-2 burst from Missouri Baptist would take a seven point lead (12-5), a 2-1 spurt from Peru State would take the lead down to six before four-straight from the Spartans would make the score 17-7 and force a Bobcat timeout. Peru State would score four of the next seven points before Missouri Baptist would use a 5-2 series to close the set and the match 25-13.
 
Offensively Shealie Wiebers (Papillion, Nebraska / Papillion-La Vista High School) would pace the team with eight total kills while Eden Moore (Eagle, Nebraska / Waverly High School) would notch six, Teodora Bulatovic (Tivat, Montenegro. / SMŠ "Mladost" Tivat) put up 12 assists and Samantha Chesley (Lincoln, Nebraska / Pius X High School) would see six assists.
 
Defensively Braelyn Braithwaite (Elkhorn, Nebraska / Elkhorn South High School) found 17 digs on the night while Wiebers would post eight.