MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Senior Kirstin Distler continued her inspired play at the Marquette Invitational, recording a match-best 16 kills to lead Austin Peay State University's volleyball team to a 3-2 (25-13, 26-28, 25-15, 21-25, 15-10) victory against Texas State in their first Saturday match.

Austin Peay's (4-2) offense remained steady throughout the match never recording more than six errors in a set en route to a 60-kill outing in which it posted a .242 attack percentage. Distler's 16-kill outing was part of a perfect attack outing for the Louisville, Ky., native as she went errorless on 31 attacks for an impressive .516 attack percentage. She also added 12 digs for her second double-double of the tournament.

Distler wasn't the only Lady Gov player who had an impressive outing as senior outside hitter Stephanie Champine (12 kills), sophomore outside hitter Illyana Hernandez (11 kills) and junior middle blocker Taylor Skinner (11 kills) all added 10 or more kills.

Ultimately, the match boiled down to the performance of Texas State's (1-5) offense. When it was at its best the Bobcats posted narrow victories and when it was at its worse they found themselves at the wrong end of losses. Texas State recorded 49 kills in the match but also posted 34 errors and finished with a meager .084 attack percentage. Melinda Cave led the Bobcats' offense with 13 kills while Jessica Weynand chipped in 12 kills.

Austin Peay controlled sets one and three by grabbing early leads and extending them throughout the set. In the opening set, APSU jumped out to an 8-2 lead before extending it to 21-8 en route to a 25-13 victory. The third set saw Austin Peay gain a 9-4 lead before pushing it to 21-11 before sealing a 25-15 victory.

Texas State scratched out victories in sets two and four as its offense found some traction with 16 kills in each set. The second set was a tossup with the two squads exchanging the lead 14 times and recording 21 ties in the overtime contest. The Lady Govs had two opportunities to win the set but could not shut the door and the Bobcats picked up the second set with three consecutive points.

The fourth set was an early seesaw battle until the Bobcats put together an 8-3 scoring run to take a 19-13 lead. The Lady Govs would get within two points, 23-21, late the rest of the way before losing the set, 25-21.

The decisive fifth set saw Texas State jump out to a 4-2 advantage and force an Austin Peay timeout. That stoppage proved effective as APSU scored five of the next six points as part of a 9-2 run to take an 11-6 lead which they would not relinquish.

Austin Peay closes out its stay in Milwaukee with a 7:30 p.m. contest against host Marquette.

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- AP -