Peru State College Athletics

(Oskaloosa, Iowa.)- The Peru State College volleyball team opened Heart of America Athletic Conference play by taking down the William Penn Statesmen in sweeping fashion. The Bobcats took the win in set scores of 27-25, 25-19, and 25-14.
 
Peru State rises to 9-3 overall and 1-0 in Heart play while William Penn falls to 9-5 overall while 0-1 in conference action.
 
Set one opened with William Penn building a four-point advantage (9-5) until the Bobcats answered in a 7-3 series highlighted by three kills by Shealie Wiebers (Papillion, Nebraska. / Papillion-La Vista High School) that knotted the score at 12. A Statesman point took back the lead until an 8-3 explosion by Peru State captured a four-point lead and forced a William Penn timeout (20-16). The Statesman found five unanswered after the timeout to take the lead (21-20) until the Bobcats responded through back-to-back kills to force the second William Penn timeout (22-21), A Statesman kill tied the set at 22 and then a home error followed by a Teodora Bulatovic (Tivat, Montenegro. / SMŠ "Mladost" Tivat) service ace took the score to set point (24-22). William Penn scored three straight to force their own set point (25-24) but after a timeout, the Bobcats would use an error and a kill to reclaim set point (26-25) then a Chancie Deaton (Payson, Arizona. / Payson) kill would slam the set close 27-25.
 
Peru State opened the second set holding a two-point lead (9-7) until William Penn scored five consecutive points to grab the advantage (12-9), a 4-1 push by the Bobcats evened the score (13-13) and after some back and forth, Brinley Falkinburg (Lincoln, Nebraska. / Lincoln East High School) found the Statesman floor four times in a 7-1 run to take the lead 22-17. William Penn would score two more times but after two Bobcat points took the score to set point, an error by the Statesman would end the set 25-19.
 
Both teams fought for position to enter the third set and after two William Penn points evened the score at six, a 7-1 stretch featuring three Eden Moore (Eagle, Nebraska. / Waverly) scores pulled the lead to six (13-7). The Statesman would score twice to cut the advantage to four (13-9), but a 9-2 explosion by the Bobcats featuring four service aces would launch the lead to 11 (22-11), William Penn would score three more times in attempt to spark a comeback until three scores by three different Bobcats took home the set and win 25-14.
 
Offensively Falkinburg led the Bobcats by logging 11 kills while Wiebers tagged 10 and Moore notched eight, Bulatovic paced the squad with 13 assists while Samantha Chesley (Lincoln, Nebraska. / Pius X High School) and Braelyn Braithwaite (Elkhorn, Nebraska. / Elkhorn South High School) totaled nine. Bulatovic and Wiebers tied for a game-high four service aces while Moore sent three.
 
Bulatovic led the team with 14 digs while Chesley put up nine, Deaton posted three block assists while Addison Schneider (Humphrey, Nebraska. / Humphrey High School) and Moore followed with two.
 
Peru State continues a short road stretch as they travel to take on Grand View in conference action on Saturday.