THE LEAD
CLARKSVILLE – Austin Peay State University women's volleyball team battled with Evansville until the final point, Tuesday, falling in five sets (21-25, 25-17, 23-25, 26-17, 14-16) to the Purple Aces at the Dunn Center.

WHO GOVERNED
Sophomore Ashley Slay posted a career-high 18 kills in the contest, passing her previous mark of 13 from last season against Jacksonville State. The Nashville native also led the team in blocks with four.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Austin Peay and Evansville split the first two sets before the Purple Aces pulled out a close third, 25-23.
• The Lady Govs dominated the fourth, pulling ahead 6-0, with junior Sammie Ebright serving, before the Evansville could answer back. Austin Peay would ultimately post 18 kills without committing an attack error in the fourt set to level the match.
• APSU once again started strong in the fifth, leading up until the ninth point. However, the Lady Govs failed to capitalize on a match point chance to fall to 0-4 on the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Freshman Cecily Gable had a breakout performance in her first match at the Dunn Center, recording 14 kills 
• Junior Samantha Strother continued her solid start to the season, following a career-high performance with 14 kills on Tuesday. Strother received the most attack opportunities (46) and was second on the team in digs with 19.
• Sophomore Kelly Ferguson set a career-best in kills with nine on 24 total attacks.

THE QUOTABLE TAYLOR MOTT
"I believe nerves got to us and we played a little timid. We out-did them in everything in the box score. We have to find a way to close close sets."

THE FULL RECAP
Behind sophomore Ashley Slay's career-high 18 kills, added with senior Samantha Strother and freshman Cecily Gable recording 15 and 14 kills, respectively, Austin Peay (0-4) overcame a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set. Austin Peay was given a match-point opportunity, but a serve sailed wide to swing the momentum back to the Purple Aces, who capitalized to win the match.

Gable, who had a career-best in kills for her young career, totaled five kills in the opening set, but the Lady Govs committed three errors in the final five serves to drop the first set. However, Strother and sophomore Kelly Ferguson stepped up in the second set with seven kills between them to even the score at 1-1.

Coming out of the halftime break, Evansville's Genesis Miranda and Mildrelis Rodriguez combined for 10 kills in the third, forcing the Lady Govs, who hit .064 in that span, to regroup.

In the fourth, they did just that. From her middle blocker position, Slay racked up seven kills with no errors in the set to ignite the Austin Peay crowd. As a team, the Lady Govs had 18 kills without committing an attack error – posting a .474 attack percentage in the frame, leading to a one-sided equalizing frame.

Austin Peay jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the fifth and final set, but the Purple Aces mounted a comeback to eventually take the lead at 15-14. After an APSU timeout, Miranda would seal the victory by delivering her team-leading 26th kill of the match.

Evansville (3-1) finished with 60 kills. Miranda's 26 kills led all hitters while Rodriguez and Rocio Fortuny each added 11 kills.

The Lady Govs return to action on Friday and Saturday as they travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for the UAB Invitational. Austin Peay's first match is a 4 p.m., Friday matchup with Savannah State.