CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (ESPN Clarksville) Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team could not get its offense on track and dropped a three-set decision (25-15, 25-20, 25-22) to Murray State, Saturday, in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship match at the Winfield Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (27-5) looked to bounce back from a 2-0 deficit in the third and had the lead at 13-11. But a well-timed Murray State timeout stopped the Governors momentum and it rallied to tie the set with the next two points. The Racers would use a 4-0 run to take the lead at 18-15 only to watch the Govs respond with the next three points to force an 18-18, but APSU would never regain the lead and forced the final tie at 20-20.
Murray State (22-9) controlled the action in the first two sets, winning each in near wire-to-wire fashion. Austin Peay began the match with a service ace but Murray State responded with seven of the next nine points to take a 7-3 lead and would not be challenged the rest of the set. The Racers broke out to a 20-8 lead in the second, but Austin Peay responded with an 11-4 run that saw it fend off six set point chances before falling.
Senior Cecily Gable paced the Governors offense with nine kills while junior Jenna Panning added an eight-kill outing. Austin Peay recorded 10 blocks in the match, senior Logan Carger leading that effort with four blocks.
Junior Rachel Guistino posted a 14-kill effort to lead the Murray State offense, senior Dacia Brown chipping in 13 kills and junior Rachel Holthaus adding 10 kills. Murray State posted 52 kills and a .325 team attack percentage.