Peru State College Athletics

(Olathe, Kansas.)- The Peru State College volleyball team fell in a five-set showdown against Heart of America Athletic Conference foe MidAmerica Nazarene. The Pioneers would take the match with a set score of 12-25, 25-15, 25-16, 21-25, and 15-12.
 
The Bobcats would drop to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference slate while MidAmerica Nazarene would climb to 6-5 and 2-2 in Heart play.
 
The Pioneers opened the match with consecutive kills until Peru State took control with a 16-2 stretch which boasted five service aces for the Bobcats, MidAmerica Nazarene would use a 6-2 run in attempts to spark a comeback but a 5-1 Peru State push would force a timeout (23-11) and after a Pioneer point, two scores for the Bobcats would win the first set 25-12.
 
The second set began with both teams trading blows until MidAmerica Nazarene would use runs of 6-2 and 5-2 to force a Peru State timeout (14-7), two-straight kills from the Bobcats would bring us out of the timeout but a 6-1 series from the Pioneers would pull the lead to 10 (20-10) and they would not look back as MidAmerica Nazarene would earn the set 25-15.
 
Set three started in a deadlock as a Peru State kill would knot the set at eight until a Pioneer stretch of 7-1 would bring a six-point advantage (15-9), the Bobcats found a 3-1 run to cut the lead to four (16-12) but MidAmerica Nazarene used their own 3-1 series to stop the advance and a 5-2 run captured the set 25-16.
 
The fourth set started with three-straight Peru State points, but the Pioneers answered through a 4-1 run to even the set (4-4), some back and forth kept the set knotted at seven until Peru Stat scored seven unanswered which saw scores from five different Bobcats to pull ahead 13-7. MidAmerica Nazarene would skim the advantage to four (14-10) but a 6-1 stretch with three scores from Shealie Wiebers (Papillion, Nebraska. / Papillion-La Vista High School) forced a Pioneer timeout (19-11) and after a 4-1 home series, Peru State would find four scores to take us to match point. Four-straight points from MidAmerica Nazarene forced a Bobcat timeout (24-21) but Wiebers spiked one down to claim the fourth set 25-21.
 
The fifth and final set started with a 5-2 run by MidAmerica Nazarene to build an early three-point lead, Peru State would find a 3-1 push to bring the set within one point (6-5) until the Pioneers would score four of the next five to force a Bobcat timeout (10-6). Peru State would answer with their own 4-1 series but three more kills from MidAmerica Nazarene would bring them to match point (14-11). The Bobcats would get a kill to keep in play, but one last Pioneer point would put away the set and earn the victory 15-12.
 
Wiebers led the Peru State offense with game-highs of 18 kills and four service aces while Addison Schneider (Humphrey, Nebraska. / Humphrey High School) and Alexus Ford (Alma, Kansas. Wabaunsee High School) both logged seven kills on the day, Teodora Bulatovic (Tivat, Montenegro. / SMŠ "Mladost" Tivat) paced the team with 22 assists and Samantha Chesley (Lincoln, Nebraska. / Pius X High School) tagged on 13.
 
Braelyn Braithwaite (Elkhorn, Nebraska. / Elkhorn South High School) put up 18 digs on the night and Wiebers added on 10, Chancie Deaton (Payson, Arizona. / Payson High School) led the blocking efforts with four block assists while Ford had two.
 
The Bobcats have a quick turnaround as they are set to stay on the road and take on Conference opponent Park on Saturday.