CLARKSVILLE – Austin Peay State University's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat Murray State in five sets (21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 15-10) to win the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championship, Saturday afternoon in front of a raucous 1,034 fans at the Winfield Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (30-5), which won its third OVC tournament title, claims the OVC's automatic qualifying spot in the 2017 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship. The NCAA Volleyball Championship Selection Show will be held at 8 p.m. (CT), Sunday, Nov. 26 and will be aired on ESPNU.
The Governors had their hands full with the Racers through the first four sets. Murray Sate would win the first and third frames but had to hold off late Austin Peay charges in each frame. Meanwhile, the Govs won the second and fourth sets in never-rattling fashion, taking a lead for good at 22-21 in the second and at 18-17 in the fourth then holding off the Racers.
In the fifth, the teams traded the first four points before the Govs got back-to-back kills from freshman Brooke Moore and junior Kaylee Taff for a 4-2 lead. After another exchange of points, Austin Peay gained control with four straight points as junior Cecily Gable and redshirt junior Christina White posted back-to-back kills in front of back-to-back Racers errors for a 9-4 lead that proved too much for Murray State to overcome. Taff would put down a kill to end the match and secure the tournament title.
Redshirt junior Christina White led the Govs with a career-high 20 kills, including five in a match-leveling fourth set victory. Freshman Brooke Moore, who was named the tournament's "Most Valuable Player" finished with 15 kills – she posted seven kills and a .700 attack percentage in the final two sets. Juniors Kaylee Taff and Cecily Gable added 12 and 11 kills, respectively in the win.
Rachel Holthaus and Katirah Johnson each had 14 kills to lead Murray State. Rachel Guistino and Dacia Brown had 13 and 10 kills each.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
What else could it be but that thunderous Kaylee Taff kill and the championship dogpile… from two different angles thanks to our friends at OVCDN and ESPN Clarksville:
GOVS, NOTABLY
TOURNEY TEAM SELECTIONS. Freshman Brooke Moore was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after leading all hitters with 48 kills (4.00 per set) and finishing the tournament with a .305 attack percentage (ninth best). Senior Allie O'Reilly also was named to the all-tournament team after finishing second in digs (59) and sixth in service aces (five). Junior Kristen Stucker was an all-tourney selection for a second-straight year after leading all setters in total assists (151) and assists average (12.58/set) while pacing the tourney's best offense.
THIRD TIME A CHAMPION. Austin Peay won its third OVC tournament title, joining the 1991 and 2010 teams with tournament trophies in the case. It is the first time in program history Austin Peay has claimed both the regular season and tournament titles in the same season.
THIRTY WINS! The OVC championship win also was the Govs 30th win this season, extending the 2017 team's own record. They also became the first OVC team to win 30 or more matches since 1995 when Middle Tennessee won 32 contests. Only seven OVC teams have recorded 30 or more wins.
TAKE IT IN FIVE. Austin Peay remained unbeaten in five-set matches this season with Saturday's five set come-from-behind win. The Governors are now 6-0 in five setters in 2017. Â The last two have seen the Govs rally from a 2-1 deficit to win the match.
TALKING TWENTY. For the second consecutive match a Governors hitter recorded 20 kills, redshirt junior Christina White doing the honors with her career-high 20 kills. It was the Govs sixth 20-kill performance, yet White and Moore's 20-kill performances in the OVC tournament were the first by a Governor not named Ashley Slay this season.
TOPPING A RECORD. Setter Kristen Stucker handed out a season-best 60 assists in the championship, three shy of her career-high, but it did make her the Governors single-season assists record holder. She finished the night with 1,489 career assists and will look to become the first Govs setter with 1,500 assists when the Govs open NCAA Tournament play in two weeks.
TAKING IT TO THE FIELD. It took a season-high 71 kills for the Governors to win the championship match. Austin Peay opened the tournament with 54 kills against Southeast Missouri – its most in a three-set contest this season. The Governors finished the tourney with 183 kills and a tourney-best 15.25 kills per set while posting an incredible .306 team attack percentage.
