CLARKSVILLE – Austin Peay State University's volleyball team leaned heavily on freshman Brooke Moore and she responded with a career-high 22 kills in a four-set (19-25, 25-12, 25-14, 25-12) victory against Eastern Kentucky in the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference volleyball Championship's semifinal round, Friday night at the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (29-4), which set the program record for wins in a season, advances to the championship match and will face defending OVC tournament champion Murray State in a noon, Saturday contest at the Dunn Center. It will be the Governors fifth OVC tournament championship match appearance and first since 2010.
Eastern Kentucky (13-19) jumped out to the better start, opening the match with a 4-1 run and fending off an Austin Peay four-point rally that tied the set 6-6. The Colonels scored six of the next nine points to build a 12-9 lead and did not look back, taking the early 1-0 match lead.
But Austin Peay asserted itself in each of the next three sets thanks to Moore and the serving of redshirt junior Christina White. The Governors were safely in control of the second set, 16-9, but White stepped to the service line and led the Govs to an 8-0 run that broke the frame open. In the third the Govs led 13-11 but White again served up 10 consecutive points to put the set out of reach.
The fourth frame was more back and forth until White pieced together three points in her service rotation, giving the Govs a 15-10 lead. But senior Ashley White put the contest away with eight points on her turn at the line, and Moore sealed the win with her 22nd kill.
Moore's 22-kill performance, the second-best total by a Govs hitter this season, came with a .347 attack percentage and saw her nearly post a 20-20 effort as she added 18 digs and notched a team-best six blocks.
Austin Peay finished the night with a season-high 16 blocks and posted an impressive 74 digs. Moore's six blocks paved the way in the front row where six different Govs ended the night with a block. Senior Allie O'Reilly paced the back row with 21 digs – one of five Govs to finish the night with 10 or more digs.
Celina Sanks led Eastern Kentucky with an 18-kill, 13-dig effort. However, the Colonels were limited to a .095 team attack percentage by the Govs strong defensive showing.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
A new feature in a recap, but one this moment truly deserves as it proved to be the turning point in the match. With the Govs up 17-9 in the second, Christina White stepped to the line to serve, what happened next will be preserved in video and on Twitter for posterity:
That was the second point in White's impressive eight-point run at the service line in the second. And it may never have happened if not for some outstanding effort that took up all the court and then some.
SET-BY-SET
SET 1 | EKU 25-19: Eastern Kentucky set the early tone as Cassie Knutson opened with back-to-back kills and the Colonels raced out to a 4-0 lead. The Govs would rally to tie the set, 6-6, but could not gain the lead as EKU scored six of nine points in a brief burst to build a 12-9 lead. The EKU lead would not grow any larger than three points until Knutson led a three-point burst for a five-point, 19-14 lead that proved too much for APSU to overcome. Moore scored seven of the Govs 13 kills in the set, but the Govs were held to a .119 attack percentage.
SET 2 | GOVS 25-12: Whatever was said in the huddle before the second, the Govs may well want to write that speech down. Austin Peay, or more precisely Ashley Slay came out with a vengeance, scoring five of the first six points with Slay providing a block and three kills. EKU battled back within a point, but a Moore kill and back-to-back blocks kept the Govs out front. The match turned on a pivotal all-out effort by the Govs that resulted in a point (see above) for an 18-9 lead, the second point of an eight-point run that put the set away. The Govs needed just 11 kills in the second thanks to a six-block frame, Slay leading the effort with five kills and three blocks.
SET 3 | GOVS 25-14: Out of the break, the Govs got caught in a tussle with the Colonels and battled through nine ties and four lead changes in the first 18 points, EKU's Celina Sanks tying the frame, 9-9, with a kill. But White provided a block and a kill on consecutive points to give the Govs the lead. Five points later she stepped to the service line after another kill and promptly served up an 11-0 run by keeping EKU out of its offensive system. By the time the run ended the Govs were up 23-11 en route to the win. Austin Peay notched its fourth 18 kill set of the tournament, finishing with a .485 attack percentage. Moore led the offensive with six kills while White and Slay had four each.
SET 4 | GOVS 25-12: EKU opened the fourth frame with the first two points and led 3-1 before White again turned the tide. While it was a smaller 3-0 burst that gave the Govs a 4-3 lead it proved enough to give APSU much-needed momentum. Austin Peay nursed that lead until White's next turn at serve where she served up three more points for a 15-11 advantage. But it was Slay's turn at serve two points later that effectively ended the match, APSU piecing together a nine-point run to set up match point, Moore finishing the match with a kill. Moore had six kills in the Govs 16-kill effort.
GOVS, NOTABLY
BRIGHT WHITE AT THE LINE. Serving is an often overlooked part of the game but not Friday night as Christina White put forth a clinic on the topic in the final three sets. She finished the match with 33 service attempts – no other player had more than 18 attempts (Slay). More impressively, the Govs lost just eight points on her serve  -- two in each set – and outpaced the Colonels 25-8 when White was serving… a whole set's worth of points.
MOORE'S FIRST 20. Moore's 22 kills was a career high and her first career 20-kill performance. It was the fifth 20-kill effort by a Govs hitter this season, Ashley Slay putting forth the other four.
LET'S TALK ABOUT BLOCKS. Moore posted a career-high six blocks, leading the Govs to a season-best 16 total blocks. Kristen Stucker also set a career-high with five blocks while Kaylee Taff tied her season best with six. Slay chipped in four blocks while White and Cecily Gable each had two blocks.
THAT 29TH WIN THOUGH. Austin Peay won its program-record 29th match, needing only 33 matches to break the record set by the 1992 Governors team. Austin Peay will turn its attention to posting its 30th victory which would not only secure the program's third OVC tournament title but also a second trip to the NCAA Volleyball Championship.
SLAY MOVES INTO FIFTH. Slay's 14-kill outing moved her into fifth on the Govs career kills list (1,281 career kills), moving past Nikki Doyle (1,272 kills, 2009-12). She needs just 19 kills to become one of only five Govs hitters to record 1,300 kills during their career.
SLAY SEVEN BLOCKS AWAY. Slay also moved within seven blocks of tying the program record for career blocks. She ended the night with 341 career stops thanks to a four-block outing. Slay is attempting to catch Kim Smith's (1996-99) record 348 blocks.
STUCKER 27 AWAY FROM RECORD. Stucker's 48-assist night vaulted her to No. 2 on the Govs single-season assists list. At 1,429 assists this season, she is just 27 assists away from breaking the program record of 1,455 assists set by Annie Glieber in 1999.
