MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Austin Peay
State University's volleyball team relied on consistent hitting to win its
first three matches at the Marquette Invitational, but ran into the blocking of
host Marquette and fell, 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-19), in the tournament
finale, Saturday night.
Austin Peay (4-3) had more or
less cruised in its first three matches of the tournament and had committed no
more than six errors in its first 11 sets in Milwaukee. The Lady Govs ran that
streak to 12 sets with just five errors in the opening set against Marquette, while
posting 17 kills en route to a 25-18 victory.
However, Marquette (6-1) ramped
up its front-row defense the rest of the match and the APSU hitting numbers
took a beating. The Golden Eagles posted four blocks in the second set and
forced 10 APSU attack errors to win 25-21. Marquette's pressure slackened in
the third set, recording only two blocks, but Austin Peay committed a tournament-high
11 attack errors to help the hosts in a 25-19 loss.
The fourth set saw both teams
display their blocking prowess as each club finished the set with four blocks.
However, Marquette had just five attack errors against the Lady Govs eight
miscues to eke out a 25-20 win.
"Marquette played their best
match of the tournament in front of their home crowd tonight," said Lady Govs
head coach Mike Johnson. "We came out and fought to the bitter end tonight. I'm
proud of the way this team represented itself this weekend."
Senior outside hitter Stephanie Champine and senior opposite hitter Kirstin Distler were each named to the
all-tournament squad. Champine led the Lady Govs with 18 kills and a .279
attack percentage in the tournament finale and finished with 49 kills overall.
Distler had 11 kills and 12 digs for her third double-double of the tournament.
She finished her Milwaukee stay with 46 kills and an impressive .360 attack
percentage.
"This team is realizing how
good we can be," Johnson said. "Our performance in this tournament was gritty
and we got superb performances both offensively and defensively across the board.
Kirstin had a coming out party here; her play was above and beyond."
Austin Peay returns to action
at the Chattanooga Challenge, Friday and Saturday, where they will meet
Chattanooga, Loyola-Chicago and SIU Edwardsville.
- AP -
