COOKEVILLE, Tenn. ? A win is a win no matter what it looks like and Austin Peay State University's volleyball team didn't win pretty as it opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-16, 14-25, 15-7) victory at Tennessee Tech, Friday night.

The Lady Govs won in Cookeville for the first time since the 2003 season and improved to 9-4 overall and 1-0 in conference action, surpassing its 2007 win total with the victory. Tennessee Tech saw its five-match win streak against Austin Peay end and fell to 3-8 overall and 0-1 in league play.

After committing just six hitting errors in the match's first three sets, taking a 2-1 lead, Austin Peay's offense couldn't find the court in set four. The Lady Govs committed seven errors offensively and posted just seven kills en route to a 25-14 loss. Tennessee Tech's offense forced the decisive fifth set with an impressive 14-kill performance while hitting a match-best .379 in the set.

However, the Golden Eagles were unable to carry that momentum into the fifth set, opening with three consecutive attack errors to hand the Lady Govs a 3-0 lead. TTU was able to recover and take a 6-5 lead after a APSU error, but the set was immediately evened by another TTU attack error. That was the only opening Austin Peay needed as that point was the first of eight consecutive points, all on junior Kirstin Distler's serve, that broke the match open as APSU would win the fifth set, 15-7.

“I was a little worried going into the fifth set because we didn't have the momentum,” said Lady Govs head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “Between the fourth and fifth sets we told the team to refocus and pay attention to the little things. They responded by going out and playing really well and staying in the moment and that made the difference tonight.”

Junior transfer Stephanie Champine led the Lady Govs with 16 kills and a.286 attack percentage. Freshman Kayla Grantham posted 13 kills ? only her third double-digit kill performance this season ? against two errors for a .275 attack percentage. Sophomore Jessica Mollman added 10 kills in the victory.

“Kayla was extremely smart tonight,” said Hazelwood. “Tennessee Tech did all they could to adjust to her tonight but she kept making smart plays. When you only have two errors with that many attacks (40 attack attempts) it proves you were having a good match. We will need other players besides Stephanie and Jessica to step up and it was nice to see Kayla do so tonight.”

Austin Peay posted 52 kills but was outhit by Tennessee Tech which posted 67 kills. The Lady Govs compensated with an 8-5 blocking advantage and a 7-4 margin in service aces. In addition, the Golden Eagles committed 32 attack errors against an efficient 15-error night by the Lady Govs attack.
Sophomore Leah Meffert, a preseason All-OVC selection, led Tennessee Tech with 16 kills and a .342 attack percentage. Amanda Lindgren added 15 kills and Caitlin Bullock chipped in 14 kills for the Golden Eagles.

Austin Peay returns to action quickly, traveling to Jacksonville State overnight for a 2 p.m., Saturday, contest. The Gamecocks downed Tennessee State in five sets, Friday night, and improved to 5-7 overall and 1-0 in league play.

“I believe we need to realize that we're really a good team,” Hazelwood said. “We beat one of the conference's best teams on their home court and that's a big statement. However, we have to show up ready to play at Jacksonville State they proved tonight they are still a team to be aware of. We have to be ready to play hard for every point.”