CLARKSVILLE - Austin Peay State University's volleyball team pushed league-leading Morehead State before falling in four sets (26-28, 25-21, 21-25, 22-25), Tuesday night in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Dunn Center.

Austin Peay (7-18, 5-9 OVC) put the league's leader to the test in all four sets. The Lady Govs had a pair of set point opportunities in the opening set, but could not capitalize as Morehead State got key kills at each chance before Emma Keough ended the set with a kill.

Morehead State (18-5, 13-0) had to rally back from a 15-10 deficit in the second set and briefly held an 18-16 lead. But Austin Peay stormed back with four straight points to take a 20-18 lead and they would outscore Morehead State, 5-3 the set's remainder to win the frame, 25-21.

The third set was another closely fought affair with 10 ties and seven lead changes and Austin Peay led 21-20 after a Morehead State service error. However, the Eagles closed the set with five consecutive kills, including two each by Laura McDermott and Keough to escape with the 25-21 victory.

Morehead State threatened to run away with the fourth set, breaking out to a 9-5 lead and extending the advantage to 12-6. Austin Peay mounted a charge following a timeout, using a 12-5 run to tie the set, 18-17, as freshman Hillary Plybon had three kills to spark the run. The team's exchanged the lead over the next several points until Morehead State used a block and back-to-back kills to set up their first match point opportunity, 24-21. Senior Nikki Doyle recorded a kill to stave off the first match point, but Annie Gruenschlaeger ended the match with a kill.

Plybon led the Lady Govs with 14 kills and a .344 attack percentage. Senior Ilyanna Hernandez added 12 kills and sophomore Lauren Henderson chipped in 10 kills. Austin Peay recorded 53 kills in the match but finished with a .192 attack percentage (20 attack errors).

Morehead State's Ellie Roberson maintained her status as the league's leading hitter, finishing with a match-high 22 kills. Laura McDermott added 15 kills as eight MSU hitters combined to record 67 kills while posting a .221 attack percentage.

Austin Peay continues its three-match homestand when it hosts Tennessee Tech in a 7 p.m., Friday contest.

-AP-