CLARKSVILLE - Austin Peay State University's volleyball team pounded out 50 kills in a three set sweep (25-13, 25-16, 25-18) of visiting Southeast Missouri in Ohio Valley Conference action, Friday night, at the Dunn Center.

Austin Peay (13-3, 4-1 OVC) recorded 50 kills in a three set match for the third time this season, but committed only seven errors to finish with a season-best .364 attack percentage. The Lady Govs scored 15 kills in the first set, 17 in the second and 18 in the third en route to the victory.

"Tonight we did exactly what we had to do to win," said Lady Govs head coach Haley Janicek. "We were really aggressive at the net, but we had very few errors so we were playing very efficiently as well. Every person came to play and our offense was spread among all our hitters really well."

Southeast Missouri (4-9, 1-3 OVC) could not maintain that pace and finished with just 29 kills while committing 13 errors for a .136 attack percentage. The Redhawks posted 12 kills in the third set.

Following a five-set loss at Jacksonville State in its last outing, Austin Peay showed it was ready to play Friday, racing out to a 6-3 lead in the opening set. The Lady Govs pushed the lead to 11 points, 19-8, during a 4-0 run later in the set. Austin Peay would not look back, posting the 25-13 victory. Sophomore Nikki Doyle finished with eight kills in the opening set.

Southeast Missouri challenged early in the second set and led 13-11 near the midway point. But Austin Peay responded with an 8-0 run to take a 19-13 lead. Junior Ilyanna Hernandez posted a pair of service aces during the run while senior Jessica Mollman chipped in a pair of kills. Austin Peay would trade out points before Hernandez posted a kill to set up set point and freshman Calyn Hull served up an ace to finish the set.

"We really did a good job maintaining our composure throughout the match tonight," said Janicek. "In previous matches we have fallen back a little when we had a lead. We didn't retreat much tonight - we were able to stay in our system and stick with our fundamentals so it was a more consistent match overall.

The Lady Govs led most of the way in the third set, taking the lead for good at 4-3 while using a 6-2 burst to build a four-point, 9-5 lead. Southeast Missouri would keep the lead from growing larger until committing an attack error to give APSU a 19-14 lead and senior Taylor Skinner followed with a kill to build a six-point, 20-14, lead they would not relinquish.

Doyle finished the night with a match-best 16 kills and committed no errors for an impressive .410 attack percentage. Mollman added 11 kills and a .556 attack percentage while Skinner added seven kills and a .500 attack percentage. Austin Peay's defense recorded 67 digs in the short match, led by junior Paige Economos' 24-dig night.

"Nikki is doing some really good things," Janicek said. "This really is her first year playing significant time at the collegiate level. She's come in and she's really doing a good job."

Karlee Lursen led Southeast Missouri with 11 kills. The Redhawks defense finished with 58 digs, led by Kelley Benacka's 19-dig effort.

Austin Peay returns to action with a 2 p.m., Saturday contest against Eastern Illinois. Admission is free to all fans.

- AP -