MOREHEAD, Ky. ? A slow start offensively proved too much to overcome as Austin Peay State University's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (30-21, 30-17, 31-29), Ohio Valley Conference decision at Morehead State, Saturday.

Morehead State (7-5, 1-0 OVC) grabbed the early initiative scoring the match's first five points. Austin Peay rallied back to tie the match, 9-9, only to watch Morehead State piece together a 12-5 run to take a 21-14 lead from which they would not look back.

The Eagles opened the match's second game with another 5-0 run, but did not allow the Lady Govs back into the match. MSU built a 14-point advantage twice, the first at 17-3 and the second at 21-7. Austin Peay would score 10 of the final 19 points, but could not close the gap.

“We were still recovering from last night,” said Lady Govs head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “We tried to get them up for this match, but with so many freshmen experiencing this kind of road trip for the first time, we just weren't ready.”

The third game was a story of runs, Austin Peay (6-8, 1-1 OVC) starting the game by scoring the first four points. Morehead State would not relent and put together a 9-3 run to take a 10-7 lead. The Lady Govs responded with a 10-6 run of their own to grab a 17-13 advantage. The Eagles retook the lead with a 6-1 push and led 19-18 before an MSU attack error evened the score, 19-19.

From there, the two teams battled neck-and-neck with seven ties down the stretch. A Maegan Squibb kill gave Austin Peay an important two-point lead, 26-24, which they would hold until Morehead State was able to tie the game at 28-28. The Lady Govs got to game point, 29-28, on a Jessica Mollman kill, but could not capitalize as Kaitlin Craven evened the scored with a kill. Morehead State closed out the match courtesy back-to-back APSU attack errors.

“We left on a better note,” said Hazelwood. “We played with more intensity in the third game and I believe that will help us down the road.”

Senior Dodi Szymska closed out her trip through “Death Valley” with 18 kills and a .333 attack percentage. She posted an impressive 47 attacks during the road trip. However, she was the only APSU player to reach double-digit kills territory, Saturday, as the team posted just 34 kills and a .076 attack percentage.

“Dodi is so steady and strong,” said Hazelwood. “She had 80 attacks yesterday at Eastern Kentucky and came out and put down 18 kills today. She tried to rally her teammates all match long and really took a leadership role.”

Erin Peak led Morehead State with 11 kills and Kelsey Cronin added 10 kills. The Eagles finished with 47 kills and a .233 attack percentage.

Austin Peay returns to action with the “Alabama Swing” next weekend, beginning with a 7 p.m., Friday, contest at Samford.

“I told the team we will have to travel again next weekend and be ready to play on short notice,” said Hazelwood. “However, I think we will learn from this trip and apply that next weekend and what will be a difficult road trip.”

- AP -