CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? Austin Peay State University's volleyball team pushed visiting Murray State to five games but fell, 3-2 (20-30, 31-29, 27-30, 30-21, 9-15), in Ohio Valley Conference action, Saturday afternoon, at the Dunn Center.
Murray State improved to 7-8 overall and 4-2 in league play while Austin Peay fell to 7-11 overall and 2-4 in conference action.
The Racers opened the match with 23 kills and only four errors in the first game for a .500 attack percentage. The Lady Govs battled back in game two with 19 kills, including back-to-back kills by freshman Jessica Mollman which handed the game to APSU.
“I thought we came out flat the first game and that's something as a young volleyball team we can't afford to do,” said Lady Govs head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “The games they won were close games, but our team has to learn how to finish. Murray is a good team. They dig everything you hit at them and that can get frustrating as a hitter. The fact that we did stick with it and keep playing hard is a positive.”
After the break, Murray State won a very close game three which featured 19 ties and eight lead changes. The Racers used a service ace and a pair of kills by Alison Mugler to create the separation needed to post the win. Austin Peay rallied again and sprinted out to a 20-10 victory on the way to tying the match.
Murray State proved opportunistic in game five, taking advantage of eight Austin Peay errors on the way to a decisive 15-9 victory.
“In clutch situations it hurts us that we don't have someone that we can count on to handle the ball,” said Hazelwood. “That's something we have to start getting more consistently to be successful. Our team has to continue to learn how to play at a high level and right now we seem to be a little up and down in matches.
“The fact that we went five against a team like Murray who has beaten some of our top conference schools is something we can build on, but at the same time it hurts that we didn't pull this win out.”
Senior Dodi Szymska led all hitters with 25 kills while posting a .344 attack percentage. Mollman added 18 kills and sophomore Kirstin Distler chipped in 14 kills.
Offensively, Murray State won the battle with an 82-77 lead in kills. The Lady Govs battled the league's top defense to a draw with each team recording 88 digs and APSU finishing with a 7-6 advantage in blocks.
Four Racers hitters recorded double-digit kills, with Becca Lamb leading the team with 21 kills. Sara Hayden added 19, Alison Mugler chipped in 17 and Tara DeMage added 14 kills. Murray State finished with a .322 attack percentage as a team.
- AP -
