DES MOINES, IA – The Vikings would get a hot start in their home opener against the Peru State Bobcats, the Bobcats would find some grounding late, forcing the match to five sets, but the Vikings rallied to stop the reverse sweep with set scores of, 25-15, 25-14, 18-25, 25-20, and 15-7.
The Vikings were led once again by Heleine Filipe, she had a monstrous night with 22 kills at .476%, with just 2 errors on 42 attempts. She also defended the net well, and combined for 6 blocks and assists.
The rest of the attack would be balanced across the board as Kylie Hoben, and Sydney Beasley would add 7 kills apiece.
Chevy Wagner-Chun would defend well for the Vikings tallying 17 digs and 0 errors. Jenna Bentz had 32 assists, a season-high.
The first set was an impressive home opening show, Emily Byrd would rack up four aces to give the Vikings an early 7-0 lead. A balanced attack in set one would leave no doubt for the Vikings as they would cruise to an opening set victory 25-15.
The teams went back and forth throughout the second set, but a kill from Filipe and an ace from Bentz would give them the two-point advantage, and the Vikings wouldn't look back. Back-to-back kills from Isabel Floyrance would seal the second set putting the Vikings one away from a sweep.
The Vikings struggled to get momentum to swing in the third set, Peru State would jump out to an early 14-7 lead, and the Vikings would show signs of climbing out of the hole, but Peru would finish them off 25-18.
Byrd would get things off to another hot start with her ace, giving the Vikings a 6-2 early lead. Peru State was showing no signs of backing down, as they rallied for 4 straight points to make things 22-20, after a Grand View timeout by head coach Devon Wells, the Vikings weren't able to regroup and Peru ran away with set four 25-20.
The fifth set would show the fire the Vikings had in sets one, and two, an early 8-4 lead would be complimented by an ace from Wagner-Chun forcing the Bobcats into a timeout of their own. Following the timeout, the Vikings showed no hesitation and they held Peru to 7 points as Ellie Dougherty closed the door with her kill.
The Vikings will continue their home stretch, the team will host MidAmerica Nazarene on Friday. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m.
