CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University's volleyball team ended its stay at the Comfort Inn & Suites Challenge with a decisive 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-16) victory against SIU Edwardsville, Saturday afternoon.

Austin Peay (6-4) grabbed control of all three sets early on as they showed a return to the form from last week's outing in Milwaukee. A nine-point APSU burst in the first set turned a 2-0 deficit into a 9-2 lead, which would build into a 20-9 advantage en route to a 25-13 win. SIU Edwardsville would rally to tie the second set, 7-7, and remained close until Austin Peay scored 10 of the final 14 points to score the 25-18 victory. The third set was the Lady Govs from the onset as they jumped out to an 11-4 lead and did not look back to record the 25-16 victory.

Senior outside hitter Stephanie Champine recorded a team-best 16 kills in the victory, her seventh straight double-digit kill outing, and finished the tournament with 53 kills (4.82 kps). Junior middle blocker Kayla Grantham added 14 kills. Austin Peay recorded 45 kills and a .267 attack percentage.

SIU Edwardsville (0-11) recorded only 22 kills and a .029 attack percentage in the loss. Brianne Graunke led the Panthers with six kills.

"We let one get away this morning (a 3-2 loss to Loyola)," said Lady Govs head coach Mike Johnson. "We're learning what it means to carry a singular focus and control what is on our side of the net. That will take time. I know we learned a valuable lesson this morning and I give the team credit for the way we battled back. We played crisp, clean Austin Peay volleyball in the second match and I'm glad we had the opportunity to head into OVC play on a positive note."

Austin Peay now prepares to open Ohio Valley Conference action with a 7 p.m., Friday contest against Tennessee State.

-AP-