Peru State College Athletics

(Parkville, Mo.)- The Peru State College volleyball team traveled to take on Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Park in an away contest on Saturday evening. The Bobcats fell to the Pirates 3-1 with set scores of 25-21, 11-25, 24-26, and 17-25.
 
Peru State falls to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in Heart action while Park climbs to 11-6 and 2-3 in conference action.
 
The first set opened with neither team able to build a lead in a 15-point series that featured seven ties and a lead change as the Pirates held a one-point lead (8-7) until a string of errors aided Peru State in a 5-1 run to claim the advantage 12-9. A 3-1 Park stretch would cut the lead to one (13-12) but the Bobcats answered with a 6-2 push to force a Pirate timeout (18-13). Park did not give up as after trading blows, a 4-1 Pirate push cut the lead to two late in the set (23-21), but Peru State responded with consecutive points to claim the set 25-21.
 
Both teams swapped 4-0 series to begin the second set and after a Pirate timeout, a 9-1 stretch would give Park an eight-point lead (13-5) and never looked back as they cruised to a 25-11 win.
 
Set three began with a similar story with a Pirate point knotting the score at four early on until the Bobcats began to pull away with a 5-2 run to set a three-point advantage (9-6) but Park responded through four straight points to even the set at 10. Some more back and forth play would keep the score tied at 14 and then a 4-1 stretch from the Pirates would take a three-point lead, but Peru State scored six straight to reclaim the lead 21-18. Park would score five of the next six points to take a late 23-22 advantage and force a Peru Sate timeout and then a Bobcat block followed by a Pirate point brought the score to set point 24-23. Peru State would keep the game alive with a kill, but two points through Park would deliver them the set 26-24.
 
After a Pirate score gave Park a 4-3 advantage in the fourth set, the Bobcats would score five continuous points which was highlighted by three Lydia Boyce (Omaha, Nebraska. / Mercy High School) service aces to force a Park timeout (8-4). A 7-3 run by the Pirates would tie the set at 11 then seven straight scores would take the lead 18-11, Peru State scored three of the next four in attempts of a comeback (19-14), but back-to-back 3-1 series by Park would take home the set and the win 25-17.

Offensively Eden Moore (Eagle, Nebraska. / Waverly High School) picked up 14 kills on a .400 clip to lead the team while Shealie Wiebers (Papillion, Nebraska. / Papillion-La Vista High School) and Addison Schneider (Humphrey, Nebraska. / Humphrey High School) both found five, Teodora Bulatovic (Tivat, Montenegro. / SMŠ "Mladost" Tivat) put up 20 assists on the night and Samantha Chesley (Lincoln, Nebraska. / Pius X High School) followed with 11. Boyce sent a team-high three service aces while four different Peru State players found one.
 
Brinley Falkinburg (Lincoln, Nebraska. / Lincoln East High School) notched nine digs on the night while Braelyn Braithwaite (Elkhorn, Nebraska. / Elkhorn South High School) totaled eight and Wiebers marked seven, Chancie Deaton (Payson, Arizona. / Payson High School) found a game-high six block assists and one solo stuff while Moore found two solo blocks and two block assists.
 
Peru State is back in action on Wednesday at 7:00 P.M. where the Bobcats will host Heart foe Baker in conference action.