JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Austin Peay State University's volleyball team was unable to solve Jacksonville State losing a five-set match (20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 17-25, 13-15) in Ohio Valley Conference action at Mathews Coliseum. It is the third consecutive five-set match the two teams have played in the series, the Gamecocks winning all three.

Jacksonville State (8-7, 3-1 OVC) needed a 6-1 set-ending burst to win the opening set, 25-20. The set saw the teams trade the lead five times, but neither team could gain more than a three-point advantage until the final JSU burst. Austin Peay led by two points, 9-7, early and had an 18-17 lead late, but committed six errors (three attack, two reception and one setting) in the final run.

Austin Peay (13-3, 3-1) turned the tables in the second set, scoring four consecutive points to build a six-point, 22-16, lead on the way to a 25-19 win. Jacksonville State led by three points, 17-14, just prior to the APSU outburst. The Lady Govs got a kill from senior Jessica Mollman and two more from Ilyanna Hernandez in its breakaway run.

The Lady Govs broke away earlier in the third set, using six consecutive points to build a 10-5 lead that they would hold onto the rest of the set. JSU would close to within two points, 20-18, but APSU responded by scoring four of the next five points to rebuild a safe margin and win the set, 25-21.

The Gamecocks put together an impressive 13-2 run in the fourth set, turning a 7-6 deficit into a 19-9 lead and were not threatened the rest of the way, winning 25-17.

Jacksonville State led the fifth set wire-to-wire, but never had a comfortable lead, a four-point, 11-7 lead its biggest advantage. The Lady Govs quickly scored three straight points to get back within one, 11-10, and stuck close with a chance to force overtime, but committed an attack error on JSU's first match point to lose the contest.

"I believe we played inconsistently today," said Lady Govs head coach Haley Janicek. "We missed a lot of serves and didn't pressure their passing the way we did (at Tennessee Tech) last night. Offensively, we played our type of volleyball in the second and third sets, but didn't show up in the fourth. We almost had the fifth set tied 14-14, but couldn't get the point we needed."

Mollman led the Lady Govs with 15 kills and a .324 attack percentage. Doyle also had 15 kills but also committed nine attack errors and finished with a .098 attack percentage. Sophomore Ilyanna Hernandez also had trouble finding the court, finishing with 11 kills and eight errors for a .067 attack percentage.

"Jess had a few calls go against her today but she did well," Janicek said. "If she gets those calls to fall her way she has a better showing on the box score. Jess was our most consistent player out there today."

Jen Meyer was one of four Jacksonville State players to reach double digits in kills, posting a match-best 16 and a .371 attack percentage. Kara Slater added 11 kills and a .409 attack percentage. Caitlin Vorbeck (15 kills) and Alyx Schulte (12) also breached the 10-kill mark.

"Give Jacksonville State credit, they played well today," said Janicek. "They really perform in five-set matches. We didn't respond the way we should have when the situation called for it."

Austin Peay returns home for a pair of weekend OVC contests, beginning with a 7 p.m., Friday contest against Southeast Missouri.

- AP -