JOHNSON CITY – Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team closed the match with a furious rally and claimed a five-set victory (25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-10) against USC Upstate, Saturday afternoon, in its final match at the DoubleTree Hotel Buccaneer Challenge in Brooks Gym.
Austin Peay (2-1) trailed USC Upstate 12-4 in the third set, with the match tied at one set each. But after a timeout, the Govs stormed back and closed the set with 14 kills while hitting .444. However, the early deficit was too large to overcome and Austin Peay dropped the set 25-20 and trailed the match 2-1.
Yet the Governors were able to carry that momentum into an impressive third set performance that ultimately saw it post 16 kills at an impressive .341 attack percentage. The Govs and Spartans were locked up at 14-14 before APSU sophomore Cecily Gable made her presence felt. Austin Peay closed the set with an 11-5 run sparked by five kills from Gable’s arm, forcing the decisive fifth set.
In the tiebreaker, both team’s offenses could not be held at bay early with neither posting an attack error through the first 20 points, Austin Peay leading 11-9. But the Spartans committed back-to-back attack errors at that point to give the Govs a 13-9 lead. Back-to-back kills from Gable and junior Ashley Slay sealed the win.
For the second straight match, Austin Peay had three hitters post 10-plus kills. Slay led Austin Peay with a 16-kill performance while committing just three attack errors (.481 attack percentage). Gable finished with 11 kills off the bench, eight of those coming in the final two sets. Sophomore Kaylee Taff chipped in a 13-kill performance.
The Govs 64-kill outing covered USC Upstate’s 54-kill afternoon. Sophomore Madison Haake led the Spartans with a 15-kill, 21-assist, 14-dig triple-double performance.
Austin Peay returns home and will host nationally-ranked Western Kentucky in a 6 p.m., Tuesday home-opening contest at the Dunn Center.