CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Senior opposite hitter Kirstin Distler recorded her 1,000th career kill as Austin Peay State University's volleyball team won a
three-set (25-14, 25-10, 25-17) sweep of Southeast Missouri, Saturday, in Ohio
Valley Conference action at the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (17-6, 9-2 OVC) led wire-to-wire in each of
the three sets and posted 52 kills and a .288 attack percentage in the contest.
Senior outside hitter Stephanie Champine led the offensive effort with 22 kills
and an impressive .419 attack percentage, recording eight kills in each of the
first two sets.
"Our offense was really good today and that is a function
of our serve receive," said Lady Govs head coach Mike Johnson. "Our passing was
really on target all match. When we do that - with the speed of our offense - we
have too many arms to defend."
Distler, a fourth-year senior from Louisville, Ky., became
the ninth Lady Govs player to record 1,000 kills. She also became only the
sixth APSU player to record both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in their career.
Distler entered the season with 1,004 digs after surpassing 1,000 digs in the
conference tournament last season.
"I'd like to congratulate Kirstin on joining the
1,000-kill club," Johnson said. "She's was here when the program wasn't really
great her freshman year and it's developed to being okay now. She's had a huge
part of that. It's a tremendous accomplishment."
Southeast Missouri (9-14, 5-7) could not get its offense
on track, finishing with just 22 kills and a .101 attack percentage. That
included a dismal second-set performance where the Redhawks had just three
kills and four attack errors en route to a 25-10 loss.
Junior middle blocker Emily Hughes and senior outside
hitter Karleigh DeLong each had eight kills to lead the Southeast Missouri
offense.
"We just served
pretty well tonight and playing great defense is about reducing the number of
options your opponent has," said Johnson. "Our servers were able to get them to
pass the ball off the net and made it a lot easier for our defense to focus on
the hitters they had left.
Austin Peay returns to the road for a five-match road trip,
beginning with a key Friday conference matchup against third-place Morehead
State.
- AP -
