CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? Austin Peay State University's volleyball team suffered through a tough offensive night before falling, 3-2 (19-25, 26-24, 25-27, 25-20, 12-15) to Belmont in non-conference action at the Dunn Center.

Austin Peay (18-9) got off to a sluggish start, posting 10 errors in the first set which negated their 10 kills en route to a 25-19 loss. Belmont returned the favor in the second set, committing nine attack errors which kept the set close through 13 ties and seven lead changes before APSU claimed a 26-24 victory.

The third set will be the one the Lady Govs look back to as the one that got away. Austin Peay roared out of the gate to a 9-2 lead and held a 17-8 advantage before the tide turned. Belmont would score the next nine points to tie the match, 17-17, as two APSU timeouts proved ineffective at halting the run. Austin Peay recovered with the next four points, but could not break away and ultimately an APSU error provided the winning point for Belmont in a 27-25 win. The Bruins scored 20 kills in the set against Austin Peay's 15 kills.

After falling behind 7-2, Belmont (18-7) again took another run at Austin Peay and got within one point, 16-15, but could not tie the set up. Four straight Lady Govs points pushed the lead back to five points, which ultimately was the deciding margin in a 25-20 victory. Austin Peay had its best offensive performance in the set, recording 17 kills, while Belmont managed only 12 kills.

The fifth set turned Belmont's way right at its midpoint as four straight points turned a 6-5 Belmont lead into a 10-5 advantage. Austin Peay would close within one point, 13-12, but the gap proved too much to overcome in a 15-12 loss.

Sophomore Taylor Skinner led Austin Peay with 12 kills. Junior Kirstin Distler and freshman Kayla Grantham each had 10 kills. The Lady Govs top two hitters ? Jessica Mollman and Stephanie Champine ? did not reach double-digit kill territory. Austin Peay did win the service game, posting an 11-6 advantage in aces and committing only one service error against 13 service miscues by Belmont.

“I told the team going into this match that Belmont is a good blocking team and you are going to have to hit around the block to have success,” said Lady Govs head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “It was frustrating because we knew they were a good blocking and serving team, but we could not make adjustments and they were able to block our best hitters out of the match early on.”

Cat Mundy led all hitters with 26 kills and a .458 attack percentage. Maggie Johnson added 18 kills and a .310 attack percentage. The Bruins posted a 72-61 advantage in kills and a .280 to .166 margin in attack percentage. They added to Austin Peay's offensive misery with 13 blocks, including eight by Kayla Albritton.