MURRAY, Ky. – Returning to the postseason for the first time in two years, Austin Peay State University's volleyball team will help raise the curtains on the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championship. The third-seeded Governors will face sixth-seeded Tennessee State in an 11:30 a.m., Thursday contest at Murray State's Racer Arena. 

When Austin Peay lines up for Thursday's tourney opener it will be the Govs first postseason contest in nearly two calendar year – the 2014 OVC Volleyball Championship and a Nov. 20, 2014 contest against Belmont, which saw APSU ousted in four sets. However, Austin Peay's roster has seen plenty of turnover in the 726 days between appearances with only three players on this season's roster having seen action in 2014: redshirt senior Sammie Ebright, junior Ashley Slay and redshirt sophomore Christina White. 

The Governors will open up against a Tennessee State squad it saw just once during the regular season, a three-set victory, Oct. 22 in Nashville. However, Tennessee State won five straight OVC contests after that loss and catapulted into sixth place before the regular season ended. Austin Peay won five of its eight matches following the TSU contest, but is just 2-2 in November including losses to the OVC's top two teams during the month.

OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

A ROTATION OF KNOWLEDGE

• 31ST APPEARANCE. The Govs will lift the lid on the 2016 OVC Volleyball Championship when it meets Tennessee State in an 11:30 a.m., Thursday contest at Racer Arena in Murray, Kentucky. It will be the Govs 31st appearance in the league's postseason tourney.
• THE PATH AHEAD. The winner of the Govs-Tigers morning contest will face the victor of the contest between No. 2 seed SIUE and No. 7 seed Morehead State in a 4:30 p.m., Friday contest.
• THIRD TIME A THREE. Austin Peay is a three seed for the third time in its 31 tournament appearances. The Govs reached the semifinals in 1993 from the No. 3 spot and marched to the championship in 1999.
• NEW TO THIS. The bulk of the Governors 2016 squad will be making its first postseason appearance this season. Only three players remain from the 2014 team that reached the OVC tournament: Senior Sammie Ebright, junior Ashley Slay and redshirt sophomore Christina White.
• LOOKING BACK TO 2014. In its last OVC tourney appearance, the Govs dropped a four-set decision to Belmont in the opening round. White was one of two Govs with a team-best 12 kills while Slay chipped in 10 kills. Ebright did not play in that tournament outing.
• NOVEMBER CHARGE. In its four November contests the Govs have seen a couple of new faces lead the way. Sophomore Logan Carger is second on the squad with 45 kills (3.21 per set) and a .368 attack percentage during the month. White also has seen a return to form with 30 kills (2.73 per set) in November.
• TWENTY AND TEN. The Govs 22-win campaign is their 6th best win total in program history It also is their 11th 20-win total all time. APSU's also posted 10 OVC wins for the 10th time in program history and for the first time since 2012.  
• FLIPPING THE SCRIPT. Entering this weekend's action, Austin Peay is the 5th most-improved club in Division I, its 23-10 record an 12½-game improvement over last season's 10-22 mark.