MARTIN, Tenn. - Senior Taylor Skinner had eight kills and eight blocks to lead Austin Peay State University's volleyball team in a three-set Ohio Valley Conference victory (25-23, 28-26, 25-15) against UT Martin, Friday night at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.

Austin Peay (17-5, 8-3 OVC) led 11-4 in the opening set after three service aces by junior Marie Mullins and a pair of Skyhawks attack errors capped a 7-0 run. But UTM battled back with a 7-1 run of its own to get within one point, 13-12. But a kill by freshman Alex Sain stopped the rally and gave APSU a two-point advantage it would nurse to the 25-23 set win.

UT Martin (4-19, 2-9 OVC) didn't allow Austin Peay to build a large lead in the second set and eventually grabbed its first lead, 15-14, of the set after consecutive kills by Lauren Montague. But Austin Peay scored the next three points, with junior Ilyanna Hernandez contributing a kill and a service ace. The Skyahwks would get to set point first, 25-24, after back-to-back APSU attack errors, but the home team could not capitalize, committing a service error. Hernandez would take over from there, recording both of APSU's kills in the final four points to secure the victory.

The third set was tightly fought until Austin Peay used a 7-1 run to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 14-9 lead. The Lady govs then closed the match by scoring the final seven points, two coming on blocks that Skinner was a part of and Hernandez chipping in a pair of service aces.

"We did some really good things and some okay things," said Lady Govs head coach Haley Janicek. "But overall it was a good performance. We held our composure at the right times."

Skinner's eight kills came with no attack errors on 16 attempts for a .500 attack percentage. Hernandez, Sain and junior Kayla Grantham also finished the match with eight kills. Skinner had a part in each of the Lady Govs eight team blocks. Austin Peay also had nine service aces, Hernandez and Mullins each recording three.

"Taylor played really consistently tonight," said Janicek. She had a great blocking presence and was extremely efficient attacking the ball. She played like a senior tonight."

Montague led UT Martin with nine kills. Katie Redman and Jenna Kragt each had eight kills for the Skyhawks.

Austin Peay continues its three match road trip with a 2 p.m., Saturday contest at Murray State.

NOTES: Austin Peay regained sole possession of second place in the OVC regular-season race... Eastern Kentucky, which entered the night tied with the Lady Govs, lost at fourth-place Jacksonville State... first-place Morehead State won in five sets at Tennessee Tech to maintain its two-match advantage over the Lady Govs.

- AP -