MOREHEAD, Ky. ? An early battle between two teams atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings went the distance before Austin Peay State University's volleyball team dropped a 3-2 (18-25, 25-20, 25-16, 24-26, 15-9) decision against Morehead State, Tuesday night, at Weatherby Gym.

Austin Peay fell to 10-5 overall and 2-1 in league play. Morehead State won its third straight match and improved to 12-2 overall and 3-0 in conference action.

It was an off night for Austin Peay's offense, which entered the night as the league's best hitting squad. The Lady Govs posted 56 kills but also committed 28 attack errors for an uncharacteristic .151 attack percentage.

Those woes derailed Austin Peay's efforts in each of the sets it lost, as the team had just 10 kills versus nine errors in set two and 11 kills against six errors in set three. However, set five proved to be the final nail in the coffin as they recorded just four kills and committed five errors in the decisive set.

“We've been playing efficiently this season and not giving away a lot of easy points,” said Lady Govs head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “The sets we lost tonight were because we gave away easy points. When we would get a good opportunity to score we didn't execute the way we can and let some points slip away.”

Junior transfer Stephanie Champine led the Lady Govs with 13 kills. However, sophomore Jessica Mollman, usually APSU's number two offensive weapon, was held in check to the tune of nine kills and seven errors. Freshman Kayla Grantham stepped up with 12 kills and junior Kirstin Distler added 11 kills. Also of note, sophomore Taylor Skinner led the team with seven blocks as the Lady Govs posted an impressive 12 team blocks.

“All of our middle blockers [Mollman, Skinner and freshman Ashley Estes] struggled tonight finding the court,” said Hazelwood. “There's no particular reason why, it just was an off night for them. However, I didn't feel like they were out of the match mentally, we had a nice night blocking-wise, we just have to have those three players producing on the attack.”

Meanwhile, Ashley Doscher led Morehead State with 21 kills and a .320 attack percentage. Erin Peak added 14 kills at a .370 hitting pace and Emma Keough chipped in 11 kills. The Eagles finished with 64 kills and a .223 attack percentage.

Austin Peay returns to action with a 7 p.m., Friday, conference contest against Tennessee State.