CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Down two sets to one, Austin Peay
volleyball head coach Mike Johnson took his team off the court and back to the
tunnel to regroup. His words of wisdom made an impact as the Lady Govs roared
back to win the final two sets in a 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 15-25, 25-15, 16-14)
Ohio Valley Conference thriller against Eastern Kentucky, Tuesday night, at the
Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (12-5, 6-1 OVC) was only three days removed
from seeing its unblemished OVC mark marred by visiting Jacksonville State in
five sets. The Lady Govs seemingly shook off that result in the opening set,
leading throughout.
However, Eastern Kentucky (2-13, 2-4 OVC) was bringing
momentum of its own to the match, winning its last two outings - its season's
first victories. They showed off that confidence in the second set with a near
wire-to-wire lead to tie the match at one set a piece.
Following the break, Austin Peay looked listless
defensively and Eastern Kentucky took advantage. The Colonels fired off 16
kills but, more impressively, did not commit an error in the frame en route to
a 25-15 stunner.
After that third-set shocker, Johnson took the unusual
step of pulling his team off the court and back to the tunnel behind the team's
bench. In that three-minute span he offered sound advice to a team he inherited
almost eight months ago.
"After the third set we were starting to feel sorry for
ourselves," said Johnson. "We were pressing and worrying about the outcome. Actually,
I was pretty relaxed, pretty positive and calm. I compared it to the beginning
of the year when we didn't know we were supposed to win and we just played hard
and let the chips fall where they may. I told them 'Let's just worry about
doing our job, let's play hard and what happens, happens.'"
The effect of the speech was immediate as the Lady Govs
opened the fourth set with a 9-4 run to force an early Colonels' timeout. The
lead would shrink to three points, 11-8, but Austin Peay held firm and pushed
its advantage back to six points, 20-14, before posting its own 25-15
whitewashing.
Both teams put everything on the court in the fifth set
with seven ties and five lead changes in the shortened set. Austin Peay trailed
8-7 at the changeover and lost the point following the switch of courts. The
Lady Govs rebounded to retake a 12-10 lead with a 5-1 scoring burst. Eastern
Kentucky would rally to tie the game at 14-14 and force overtime, but Austin
Peay got a crucial kill from senior outside hitter Stephanie Champine to force
match point and an EKU attack error sealed the victory.
Champine led the Lady Govs come-from-behind effort and
finished with a match-high 29 kills. That mark enters APSU's record book as the
third-best performance by a Lady Govs player, equaling the mark last set by
Dodi Szymska - also against Eastern Kentucky - during the 2007 campaign.
Champine's night got off to a good start with six kills in
each of the first two sets. However, the Lady Govs were unable to find her in
the third set as she had just five touches and recorded two kills. She made up
for the lost time in the final two sets, recording eight kills in the fourth
set and another seven in the fifth set to lead the Austin Peay comeback charge.
"Champine was just an animal tonight," said Johnson. "Even
though she wasn't playing at 100 percent, she had an incredible night - the kind
of night we know she's capable of."
Offense certainly wasn't the Lady Govs problem in the
match as they recorded 69 kills and a .292 attack percentage for the match. In
five sets they did not hit less than a .250 attack percentage.
Eastern Kentucky finished with 65 kills and a .263 attack
percentage - largely helped by its second and third set performances where it
recorded a .421 and .552 attack percentage, respectively.
Austin Peay gets a short two-day break before meeting
Tennessee State in a 7 p.m., Friday contest in Nashville.
- AP -
