CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? Austin Peay State University's volleyball team pushed league-leading Jacksonville State but fell, 3-1 (27-30, 30-24, 20-30, 26-30), Tuesday night in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Dunn Center.

Austin Peay saw its losing streak hit five matches and fell to 7-14 overall and 2-7 in league action. Jacksonville State improved to 11-5 overall and 8-1 in conference action.

The Lady Govs jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opening game, forcing a Gamecocks timeout. Austin Peay would maintain that lead until Jacksonville State pieced together a 12-6 scoring run to tie the game, 19-19. APSU would briefly retake the lead, 27-26, but JSU scored the next four points to close out the game.

Austin Peay again jumped out early in game two, taking a 5-2 advantage, but this time would not surrender the lead. Jacksonville State closed within one point, 21-20 but Austin Peay closed out the game with eight of the next 12 points.

Jacksonville State controlled game three nearly from the start and scored 11 of the final 16 points to seal the victory. The Gamecocks then grabbed a 12-9 lead in game four only to watch the Lady Govs rally back to tie the game, 25-25. However, APSU could not take a lead and Jacksonville State sealed the match with an Abbey Breit service ace.

“We did a lot of good things in this match,” said Lady Govs head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “When we play with confidence and don't make too many errors we can be very successful and that's what we've been telling the girls. We've got talent and the ability we just have to take care of the ball in clutch situations. A lot of shots we missed tonight were in big situations and we didn't get the ball to fall in key situations.”

Senior Dodi Szymska led the Lady Govs with 16 kills while senior Leanne Kreps added a career-high 13 kills. Freshman Maegan Squibb chipped in 10 kills as Austin Peay posted only 53 kills. Freshman Sarah Alisaleh added five service aces to her league-leading total.

Breit led all hitters with 26 kills for Jacksonville State. Senior Rebekah Nichols added 19 kills and two other Gamecocks players reached double-digit kill territory. JSU won the offensive battle with a 78-53 margin in kills and added defensive victories in digs, 96-73, and blocks, 9-5.

Austin Peay returns to action with a 7 p.m., Thursday, Ohio Valley Conference contest, at Tennessee State.

- AP -