COOKEVILLE, Tenn. ? Austin Peay State University's volleyball team got off to a slow start and could never recover as it fell to No. 1 seed Tennessee Tech, 12-25, 22-25 and 21-25 in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament semifinals Friday night.
The loss eliminated the Lady Govs from tourney play while the host Golden Eagles will face Murray State, which upset No. 2 seed Morehead State also Friday, for the OVC championship, 5 p.m., Saturday.
The verdict also ended Austin Peay's season at 22-11.
The truth was in the statistics. The Lady Govs led only on three occasions in the entire contest, all three coming in the second set. APSU had 17 hitting errors on the night, 15 in the first two sets. Tennessee Tech had just 11 hitting errors on the night, only five total in the first two sets. The Lady Govs also saw the hosts out-dig them, 52-39.
Finally, APSU had just a .125 hitting percentage on the night compared to an outstanding .394 by Tennessee Tech.
In the first set, the Lady Govs were almost out of it at the outset. Ball-handling issues quickly found APSU down 5-1 and they would never get closer than three points as the Golden Eagles easily pulled away for a 25-12 decision as APSU hit a minus .031 compared to Tennessee Tech's impressive .441.
The Lady Govs made some of those adjustments in the second set but continued to struggle offensively. Still, they found away to hang in the match, especially early on as the two teams were tied at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. But Tennessee Tech ran off five straight points and again appeared ready to pull away.
But APSU fought back. But a stuff block by Jessica Mollman and Marie Mullins seemed to ignite the Lady Govs who cut it to one, 21-20. But Tennessee Tech called time out and immediately regained its two-point lead. APSU would cut it to one one more time at 22-21 but Tech responded with the next two points before putting the match away on a Lady Govs offensive error, 25-22.
The third set again saw the host team get off to a strong start, scoring the first two points and building a 10-5 lead. The Lady Govs, despite their hitting troubles, were able to hang around because the Golden Eagles, for the first time all night, started making some offensive errors of their own. APSU cut their deficit to two, 15-13, before the Golden Eagles would build a five-point advantage once again at 19-14 and 20-15.
But APSU would have one last spurt on a kill by Stephanie Champine and a Golden Eagle attack, cutting the deficit to 22-21. But Tech called a timeout and just like the previous set, proceeded to put the match away, this time scoring the next three points for the victory.
The Lady Govs could not contain second-team All-OVC pick Caitlin Bullock, who had 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. In addition, OVC Player of the Year Leah Meffert had 12 kills and a .385 kill percentage.
No one for APSU broke into double-digit kills-wise. Sophomore Jessica Mollman had nine kills and .238 kill percentage to lead the Lady Govs.
The loss could not diminish the Lady Govs turnaround. APSU won just four matches in 2006 and eight in 2007, the first under head coach Jenny Hazelwood, before rolling up 22 victories in 2008 with a team that had just one senior.
-AP-
