YORK, Neb. – The York University volleyball team registered a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Peru State Saturday evening in the season-opening match.

The Panthers are now 1-0 on the year.

Head coach Irick Gardner's team was led by Brianna Lemke's 17-kill, five-dig, four-ace performance. Liberty Baker added eight kills while Kaylee Weigel chipped in six kills.  

Mariah Janda dished out 20 assists and 14 digs for a double-double while Kensey Clifton accounted for 16 assists and 10 digs, also picking up a double-double.

Defensively, Cassie Richardson garnered 18 digs and Ambar Ortiz tallied 11 digs.

For the match, York posted 43 kills and had 41 assists. The squad served up 12 aces and had 80 digs.

In the first set, York opened the season with a thunderous kill from Ronan Merriex. Down 6-4, Kenna Tarnowski and Avery Schneider recorded back-to-back blocks before Merriex and Schneider combined for a block. A bad set by the visitors pushed the score to 8-6 in favor of the Panthers.

The back-and-forth affair saw York hold a 13-12 edge after a service error. Tied at 16-16, a ball handling error by the visitors gave the home squad a one-point margin. Peru State countered with a 3-0 run for a 19-17 lead before taking the 25-20 win in the first frame.

The Panthers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second stanza and never looked back. After two errors by the visitors, Lemke took a pair of passes from Janda for back-to-back kills for the four-point margin. Moments later, Lemke's service ace pushed the score to 12-6 in favor of York. Up by eight, Clifton found Lemke for an 18-9 advantage. Florencia Felmer's service ace pushed the lead to 10, 21-11. Up 24-15, Valentina Jimenez's emphatic kill ended the set and the 10-point victory.

York took a 3-0 lead in the third frame as two points came via errors by Peru State. The Panthers maintained a 12-10 lead off a kill from Lemke. Tied at 13-13, a service error by the visitors made it 14-13. A 5-0 spurt by Peru State gave the visitors an 18-15 edge – and they would slowly pull away for the 25-18 victory.

Leading 6-4 in the fourth stanza, Lemke slammed home a kill and Tarnowski registered a block. A pair of service aces by Lemke gave the Panthers a 10-4 advantage. Up 17-16, an error by the visitors and another ace from Lemke extended the advantage to three, 19-16. Moments later, Emma Kerley's kill off a pass from Cassie Richardson made it 22-17. The visitors pulled within three at 22-19, but an error gave York a four-point lead. The Panthers forced a fifth set after an attack error by Peru State for the 25-21 victory.

York rattled off three consecutive points, taking a 4-1 lead in the fifth set. The last point of the run came via an ace by Felmer. Leading 7-5, the Panthers pushed the margin to three on a service error. Up 9-6, Kerley and Lemke registered back-to-back kills. York held an 11-8 advantage but a bad set by Peru State gave the side-out back to the home team. Lemke found the court with a kill before Mariah Janda ended the contest with back-to-back service aces.  

The Panthers return to action Tuesday when they travel to Midland University for a contest starting at 6 p.m. Live stats will be available at Yorkpanthers.com.