JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Roaring out to a two-set lead, Austin Peay State University's volleyball team had league-leader Jacksonville State on the ropes, but could not hold on in a 3-2 (21-25 11-25, 28-26, 25-16, 15-13) Ohio Valley Conference loss, Friday night, at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

With the win, Jacksonville State earned at least a share of the OVC regular-season title and clinched the right to host the upcoming OVC Volleyball Tournament. Austin Peay remains in second place, two matches ahead of third-place Morehead State, which dropped a five-set match at Southeast Missouri, Friday night.

Austin Peay (19-8, 12-3 OVC) got off to a good start, winning the match's first two sets. The Lady Govs grabbed an early 5-1 lead in the first set only to watch Jacksonville State tie the set at 6-6 with a 5-1 run of its own. However, Austin Peay did not break and did not allow Jacksonvilel State to take the lead and regained the advantage at 8-7 and would not relinquish it en route to a 25-21 victory. The Lady Govs led the second set wire-to-wire as it held the Gamecocks to eight kills and five attack errors in the frame.

Following the break, the league's top two teams put together an impressive show for the Jacksonville crowd. The two teams battled through 16 ties and four lead changes in the set that went into overtime. Jacksonville State grabbed an early two-point lead twice, 7-5 and 9-7, but could not hold the lead. Austin Peay took its own three-point advantage, 17-14, courtesy a pair of blocks led by junior middle blocker Jessica Mollman. The lead reached four points, 21-17, as junior outside hitter Kayla Grantham served up an ace. But that lead would not stand as the Gamecocks used a 5-1 run to tie the set, 22-22. Austin Peay got to match point twice and was denied each time. Jacksonville got its first lead since 9-8 courtesy an APSU attack error and junior outside hitter Brittney Whitten ended the set with a kill.

Jacksonville State (22-5, 15-0) took the momentum it gained from that set win and capitalized with a fourth-set victory, tying the match. Austin Peay stayed close early on but a 10-2 JSU scoring run broke the set open. The Gamecocks grabbed control of the fifth set with three straight points to take a 5-2 lead and held on. Austin Peay closed within a point, 12-11, but could not pull even.

"Tonight was tought in that we had the match completely in our hand," said Lady Govs head coach Mike Johnson. "For just a moment we let our minds wander to 'what if' and we might have pressed just a little bit. On the bright side, we showed when we play our aggressive brand of volleyball we can be very good. We'll see this team again."

Senior outside hitter Stephanie Champine led Austin Peay with 18 kills, but had just six kills in the final three sets. Senior opposite hitter Kirstin Distler added 10 kills. Austin Peay recorded 55 kills and posted a .238 attack percentage.

Whitten led Jacksonville State with 17 kills as five of the team's six starters recorded 10 or more kills. The Gamecocks, who entered the night the OVC's top team in kills, posted 72 kills in the victory, including 47 in the final three sets.

Austin Peay closes its five-match road trip with a 2 p.m., Saturday, contest at Tenessee Tech.

-AP-