CHARLESTON, Ill. – Senior Cecily Gable put forth a masterful performance to lead Austin Peay State University's volleyball team to a four-set Ohio Valley Conference victory against Eastern Illinois, Saturday night at Lantz Arena.
Austin Peay (25-4, 14-2 OVC) clinched the OVC regular-season title outright and will host the 2018 OVC Volleyball Championship, beginning Thursday, at the Winfield Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee. The Governors will face No. 8 seed Tennessee State in the 7 p.m., Thursday nightcap. Complete tournament information is available on the Austin Peay official athletics website at LetsGoPeay.com/championship.
Gable led all hitters with 21 kills, her second 20-kill performance of 2018, and was errorless through three sets before finishing with one attack error for a season-best .465 attack percentage. She set the tone for the evening with six kills on nine attempts in the first set and followed that with five kills in the second, Austin Peay winning both frames.
Eastern Illinois (10-21, 5-11 OVC) showed it would not go away easily in the third set, winning the first six points then fending off a late Austin Peay rally by winning seven of the last 10 points to force a fourth frame. However, Austin Peay posted 16 kills in the fourth as Gable led the way with five kills to clinch the match victory.
The Govs finished with an impressive 63 kills in the victory, senior Kristen Stucker pacing the offense with a 48-assist night. Senior Kaylee Taff added 12 kills and three blocks while sophomore Brooke Moore chipped in 10 kills.
Maggie Runge overcame an injury scare late in the second set to lead Eastern Illinois with 12 kills and a .526 attack percentage. Taylor Smith added 10 kills, 18 assists and 11 digs.
GOVS, NOTABLY
ABOUT 20-KILL OUTINGS. Gable's 21 kills at Eastern Illinois was just the third time this season an Austin Peay hitter recorded 20 or more kills in a match. Oddly enough, all three of the 20-kill outings has come in a four-set victory – Gable posting 25 in a win against SIUE (Oct. 6), Brooke Moore with 21 in a win against McNeese State (Sept. 14) and Gable's outing against EIU.
FINISH WITH A FLOURISH. It had been a tough November for Gable and Moore, the Governors leading outside hitters, but they will go into the OVC tournament with wind at their backs. Gable's .465 attack percentage at Eastern Illinois was the best by a Govs hitter this season. The day before, Moore posted a .458 attack percentage at SIUE that was the third-best effort this year.
