Jenny Hazelwood begat Mike Johnson, who begat Haley Janicek—the Austin Peay volleyball coaching tree read like an Old Testament Bible verse at times in the late '00s. By 2010, the upper class was used to coaching change—far too used to it, in fact.

Taylor Skinner (middle blocker): I think the constant changes made us rely on each other a little more, which helped team chemistry. That can be detrimental to a lot of teams, but that made us closer and stronger as a group.

Cody Bush (sports information director): Jenny had a good season in 2008 and her alma mater (Mississippi State) came calling, and she couldn't pass up an SEC job. Then Mike leads us to a 15-3 (OVC) record and he gets a call for a job at Xavier, and you can't pass up that opportunity. Haley stuck around.

Jessica Mollmann (middle blocker): Jenny Hazelwood recruited us and told us we would have an immediate impact. So we were very involved from the beginning, and that carried throughout my time at Austin Peay.

Sarah Alisaleh (setter): When Mike announced he was also leaving, it hit us pretty hard. In my head I was thinking how nice it would be to get something stable and consistent. It would help out the program and the team chemistry in the long run. The good thing about Haley taking over was that she didn't change up the system that we ran.

Paige Economos (libero): Haley did a fantastic job of honing in on the skills we were already good at and working on the skills we needed to work on as a team and as individuals. That transition was the least difficult, because she had coached us before.

Haley Janicek (head coach): Mike and I were so similar from a strategic perspective. Mike was with us for a long time during spring season, so we trained the same way all season. If there had been major changes around how we had played volleyball, I don't think we would have been nearly as successful.

With Mike Johnson gone to Xavier and 2009 conference Player of the Year Stephanie Champine gone following graduation, Austin Peay volleyball was picked to finish sixth in the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll. That would prove to be an erroneous prediction—one that the players were determined to prove wrong, roaring out of the gate by winning 12 of their first 14 matches.

Skinner: To be discounted like that makes you work a little harder and be a little more determined.

Nikki Doyle (outside hitter): It's better to be underestimated. We didn't think too much about it because we knew we were going to do well anyway.

Economos: We didn't have a wildly successful year the year before. We had lost Mike, we had lost Champ and Kristin Distler. Factor in those losses and I don't feel like we were overlooked; we just knew we were going to do better than that.

Alisaleh: I remember talking to some of the other girls on the team when the predictions came out and not one person made a comment about it other than "Let's prove them wrong." To me, that prediction only motivated me more to help and push my team to compete even harder that year, especially with the other two seniors (Mollmann and Skinner). We decided that if this was our last year playing then we would go out with a bang.

Mollmann: Champ was a great player and a big power hitter, but she wasn't the key to all our success. The rest of the conference put a lot of focus on that, but we tried to spread the offense around my junior and senior year. We were a little undervalued, but that added fuel to our fire.

Janicek: The team I ended up with that year was so feisty. They could not believe we had ended that previous year third and we'd done really well the year before. But we had lost Stephanie, Mike had left and there were so many things up in the air. But they were feisty in an amazing, collaborative way that built one another up.

Bush: We got off to a really hot start that year and beat some really good teams. You got the sense early that this was going in a certain direction.

Morehead State was the prohibitive favorite, and Austin Peay's regular-season battles with the Eagles were both back-and-forth, epic five-setters, with the home team winning both contests.

Skinner: Both teams were scrappy and didn't let things go. For some reason, that was the team we really wanted to beat every single time, and I think they felt that way about us as well.

Alisaleh: They ran the same fast offense as we did and had players that matched our same abilities. They were also the reigning champs from the previous year. All of those things attributed to the fiery attitudes we had when playing them. We always knew it would be a good game and always knew we would have to give it our all when competing against them.

Ilyanna Hernandez (outside hitter): We hated Morehead State and wanted to win. Simple as that. Ultimately, we wanted to play them in the finals.

But if Morehead State brought out the best in Austin Peay, another Kentucky squad was the bane of the Lady Govs existence in 2010.

Janicek: Volleyball's very much psychological game; there was something about EKU that just didn't make us play our best. I think we would've won (in the tournament), but I'm glad we didn't see them.

Alisaleh: It's human to underestimate teams. It happens in any type of competitive nature or with any sport. I remember Mike telling us that the way we respect a team is by playing our game and not letting how they play get in the way. In his own words, "You crush them." This stuck in my head each and every game and should have been repeated before we came out and played EKU.

Bush: They (EKU) did something that we just could not match up with.

Mollmann: They were a team that we underestimated. They didn't even have any stand-out players, and I think we weren't mentally prepared for them.

Economos: Playing at EKU was really difficult for some reason. I don't remember what the deal was—they had good players but I think it became a mental thing and we wouldn't play our best.

Skinner: I remember playing EKU at their house that year and everything was just off that night.

While losing Champine—affectionately known then and now as 'Champ'—left a hole outside, sophomore Nikki Doyle stepped up to fill it. After redshirting in 2009 following her transfer from UC Santa Barbara, Doyle's first season in red was one for the record books, as she netted All-OVC, All-OVC Tournament and AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention honors.

Bush: That became Nikki's coming-out party.

Doyle: Redshirting the year before due to injury, I had something to prove to myself and wanted to show everybody what I really had. I hated sitting out. Just being on the court was an amazing experience for me.

Skinner: Nikki knew she had big shoes to fill because Champ was a huge part of our past success. She had the work ethic and determination to improve and be someone we could depend on.

Economos: Nikki in general is more shy and introverted, and I think she lacked in confidence a little bit going in. Once she realized the coaches and her teammates believed in her, that got her out of her shell and she just shined. She was so dependable.

Alisaleh: Nikki Doyle was one of the most modest players I have ever had the privilege of playing with. She played with such poise and ease that it would make anyone appreciate that type of player. I don't know what made that such a great year, but I do know that she busted her butt each and every day in the gym and worked as hard as anyone.

Janicek: Nikki knew Mike from when she was in high school, so she was comfortable with him. Nikki and I's relationship was different; once we got into the stride of the season and she recognized the changes and the things she could bring to the team, she got a little more confident and was able to play to her true potential. Once the confidence was there, there was no stopping her.

Austin Peay caught fire at season's end, winning six straight to end the regular season and rolling through Tennessee Tech and Morehead State to take the Lady Govs first OVC Tournament Championship since 1991. The hard work, enduring the turmoil—the sacrifice had paid off.

Hernandez: It's really hard to explain. I still think about winning and get the sense of accomplishment and go back to that feeling. I remember it so vividly, being in the locker room and the things we did to prepare. It's indescribable but there was an energy and a feeling almost like peace. I'll never forget it because it was so exciting and so dear to me.

Mollmann: When it all came to fruition that we struggled for and experienced all the ups and downs and overcame that, it was one of the most fulfilling things I've ever had happen. It was really cool and one of my most proud moments.

Economos: It was our game point, and they subbed in a girl to serve who hadn't played and I assume she was a senior. They bring her in and I turned to Sarah and there was this weird, calming moment where we just knew they were going to win and I said, "She's going to miss this serve."

Alisaleh: There is a specific moment in the championship game that I remember each and every day. When we were up and one point away from winning the championship, Paige Economos turned to me and said, "Watch, they are going to miss this last serve." Sure enough, as soon as they missed, Paige ran up to me and said, "I told you so!"

Skinner: It's an indescribable feeling, especially for Sarah (Alisaleh), Jess and I, who came in as freshmen and definitely did not have the best of records. To work all four years toward that goal and finally achieve, there's no way to describe it other than pure joy.

Doyle: It was unbelievable. One of the most amazing feelings ever, especially celebrating with some of my closest friends. It was a euphoric experience.

Although a tune-up with Louisville awaited ahead of Austin Peay's date with NCAA Regional host Illinois, the Lady Govs had no fear of anyone by that point in the season. A program-record 26 wins will instill a lot of confidence.

Skinner: I felt like we could go against anybody. I think one of the great things about volleyball is that everyone has a chance; there's a reason you play the game and I think in volleyball that's even more true.

Janicek: No matter who was on the other side of the net, I don't think it would've mattered. I don't think they were fearful of Louisville and Illinois at all. They had something to prove, and despite the fact that we lost both of those games, we got better in both of those games. Had a couple of little things changed, I think we could've won against Illinois.

Hernandez: We weren't that big, but we were scrappy, we had great defenders and we had some big hitters who were undersized. At that point, we knew we were good enough to be there.

Bush: Illinois was the national seed there, their gym was under construction and it was cold, because one end of the facility was open. It came down to Illinois having more depth—they were able to rotate hitters in through the front row every time through. They also had size on the outsides, and they were able to hit over the top of our block. The hit .283 and committed 12 errors and blocked us really well. We were 10 shy in kills in a match separated by 18 points; it really came down to service and blocking.

A month after the match at Illinois, Janicek resigned—her husband, Matt, was returning from deployment in Afghanistan and had orders to relocate.

Janicek: I don't know that I really knew I was leaving until I did it. We were put in a really tough position because we were told by the army that my husband had orders to go to Arizona for a captain's career course. I sought a lot of counsel from a lot of different people and they all gave me different advice, but most of the advice was to stay until I knew, and once the orders came in I knew. I don't think I knew I was actually going to do it until I was in Cheryl Holt's office, and it's because I didn't want to do it.

Doyle: There definitely weren't any hard feelings, but losing any coach, especially Haley, was rough.

Hernandez: It was hard. We were on a high—we won the OVC, we went to the NCAA tournament, made history, changed the record books—we had done all this stuff. And it was very hard to move forward with that, because I wanted a repeat and then after I was gone I wanted a three-peat. But she had to do what she needed to do for her family, and I respect that.

Economos: We begged her for just one more year. The girls who were going to be seniors that next year were heartbroken. But with time and maturity, you realize that that's what she needed to do.

Skinner: It's a little frustrating to leave as a senior and not know where the girls that you're leaving behind are, whose hands they're in. it's tough, because you want to be there for them and understand what they're going through. But I definitely understand where Haley came from; I probably would've done the same thing. She did the right thing for herself and her family and you can't blame her for that.

Despite the loss of their coach, 2010 was a special season—it remains Austin Peay's lone NCAA Tournament appearance and cemented the legacies of all involved as one of the best teams in school history.

Bush: They won the tournament in 1991 before there was an autobid and the regular season in 1992, but lost the tournament on our home court the first year that there was an autboid for the OVC, so this has been the only NCAA trip so far.

Skinner: It's exciting and nice to know that you went into a program and made it better and when you left it was better for you and the other girls. But I always tell people, if I could go back and play four more years I would.

Hernandez: From the beginning of preseason, there was a weird sense. We kind of knew we were the group that was going to do this. Our preparation that year was unlike anything I had ever experienced before.

Economos: I played volleyball for a long time as a part of lots of really good teams, but I was never part of a team that had so much chemistry, drive and love—for the game and for each other. It was something you just don't get on every team.