JACKSONVILLE, Ala.  - It was an in opportune for an offensive outage but Austin Peay State University's volleyball team had trouble all night in a 3-2 (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 21-25, 15-12) loss to third-seed Morehead State in the semifinal round of the Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Austin Peay (22-9) sees its season end in the semifinals for the second consecutive season. Morehead State (22-9) advances to the championship game and will meet top-seed Jacksonville State.

The Lady Govs offense struggled from the opening serve and finished the night with just 52 kills in the five-set match. More telling was Austin Peay's .113 attack percentage - its lowest since the regular-season's opening weekend.

Senior Stephanie Champine was the epitome of the offense's trouble, recording a match-high 18 kills but also committing 11 errors to finish with a .101 attack percentage. Junior Taylor Skinner had the best offensive evening, finishing with eight kills, no errors and a .500 attack percentage. Junior Jessica Mollman had seven kills and seven blocks.

Freshman Amber Gruenschlaeger led Morehead State with 14 kills and nine blocks. She was one of five Eagles players to record more than 10 kills in the match.

Morehead State recorded 63 kills and a .150 attack percentage while also posting 102 digs and 14 blocks.

Morehead State took advantage of Austin Peay's troubles, winning the first two sets. After committing  four errors and allowing Austin Peay to jump out to a 6-1 lead, Morehead State put together an 11-4 to take a 12-10 lead. Austin Peay briefly retook the lead at 13-12 but surrendered four straight points to give Morehead State a 16-13 lead which it would not relinquish on the way to a 25-21 win.

The second set saw the Eagles jump out to a 10-4 lead. However it was a messy offensive set in which both teams combined to record 18 attack errors. That allowed the Lady Govs to slowly climb back into the set and close within one point, 19-18. Morehead State would fend off the effort and hold on to win 25-22.

After the break, both teams combined to put together the match's most competitive set with 11 ties and five lead changes. Austin Peay would lead by four points, 22-18, late in the set but Morehead State closed back within a point, 23-22, before the team's traded service errors followed by a Mollman kill to end the set.

Morehead State put Austin Peay on the ropes in the fourth set, taking a 12-7 lead and forcing an APSU timeout. That timeout proved effective as the Lady Govs scored the next eight points - four courtesy service aces by sophomore Paige Economos - to take a 15-12 lead. That run provided enough impetus to push the Lady Govs to a 25-21 match-tying victory.

The Eagles put the Lady Govs on the ropes again in the fifth set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead, but made the lead stick. Austin Peay would close to within one point, 11-10, but could not tie the set as Morehead State advanced with the 15-12 victory.

- AP -