THE LEAD
CLARKSVILLE – Ashley Slay's kill on an eighth-match point opportunity gave Austin Peay State University's volleyball team a five-set Ohio Valley Conference victory (26-24, 26-24, 9-25, 11-25, 23-21) against Southeast Missouri, Friday night, at the Dunn Center.

WHO GOVERNED
Ashley Slay scored five of Austin Peay's 14 kills in the fifth set, including the match winner. She finished the match with six kills, a .312 attack percentage and two blocks in limited action.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Austin Peay eked out victories in both the first and second sets to claim an early 2-0 lead. However, Southeast Missouri rebounded with dominating wins in the third and fourth sets to tie the match, 2-2.

The fifth set featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Austin Peay had three match point opportunities after a Slay kill gave it a 14-11 lead. Ultimately, APSU would have eight match point chances while fending off two Southeast Missouri match points to claim the win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Kelly Ferguson finished with a career-high 15 kills, posting a .303 attack percentage. She had four kills and one of her two blocks in the decisive fifth set.

Peyton Walker recorded her first career double-digit kill outing, finishing with 10 kills and a .375 attack percentage. She had two kills in the fifth set, including the kill to set up the final match point.

Samantha Strother finished with 11 kills and 13 digs for her season's sixth double-double. Kristen Stucker had a 26-assist, 14-dig double-double performance – her season's fifth.

Aubrey Marsellis filled in the stat sheet with six kills, 31 assists, eight digs and five blocks.

Austin Peay remained alive in the race for one of the eight OVC Volleyball Tournament spots. They end the night trailing SIUE, which is alone in the eighth spot, by three wins with three matches remaining for both teams.

THE FULL RECAP
Fans that left the Dunn Center early missed the longest – and arguably most exciting – fifth set in Austin Peay history. The tiebreaking set featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Austin Peay had two match point chances in regulation, but could not convert. Instead the two teams battled through a combined 10 match-point opportunities, the Lady Govs converting on their eighth chance.

After two ties in the first eight points, Austin Peay (8-21, 2-11 OVC) used an early 4-1 run to build an 8-5 lead at the changeover. Southeast Missouri battled back to tie the set, 9-9, with a 4-1 run of its own.  A fifth tie, at 11-11, was followed by three straight Lady Govs points, capped by a Slay kill, for a match-point at 14-11.

Southeast Missouri (10-16, 6-7 OVC) fended off three match points thanks to kills by Madalyn Werths and Marie Less plus a Haley Roberts service ace, tying the frame at 14-14. Austin Peay would get another pair of match points at 15-14 and 16-15, but could not convert. Instead the Redhawks scored back-to-back points to set up their first chance to end the match at 17-16.

The Lady Govs responded with a block and a Kelly Ferguson kill to get match point back in its hands at 18-17, 19-18 and 20-19 but again failed to connect. The Redhawks countered with consecutive points for their second match point chance, 21-20, but were denied by an attack error.

Austin Peay regained the momentum with a Peyton Walker kill for a match point at 22-21. This time the Lady Govs converted thanks to a Slay kill for the 23-21 victory.

The fifth set resembled the first two sets, which required overtime before Austin Peay secured consecutive 26-24 victories. Southeast Missouri posted dominating wire-to-wire efforts in the third and fourth sets to tie the match and force the decisive fifth sets.  

Ferguson led Austin Peay with a 15-kill performance that saw her record a .303 attack percentage. Samantha Strother added an 11-kill, 13-dig double-double while Walker chipped in 10 kills. Slay, who saw limited action, recorded five kills in the fifth set and finished with six kills.

Nzingha Clarke and Krissa Gearring each had 17 kills to pace Southeast Missouri. Weths added 16 kills and Less chipped in 10 kills.

Austin Peay, which staved off elimination from the OVC Volleyball Tournament with Friday's win, continues its four-match homestand with a 1 p.m., Saturday contest against UT Martin.