Women's Volleyball | November 09, 2021

CLARKSVILLE – Austin Peay State University's volleyball team kicks off the regular season's final week with a pivotal midweek Ohio Valley Conference matchup against Murray State, 6 p.m. Wednesday, in Murray, Kentucky.

The Governors (19-9, 12-3) enter the final week of the season a match and a half behind OVC-leading Morehead State (18-9, 14-2), who APSU owns a tiebreaker over after defeating the Eagles in back-to-back matches to begin the OVC slate. Austin Peay wins a share of the OVC regular season title and will host next week's championship tournament if it sweeps its remaining three matches and Morehead State does not sweep its series at Southeast Missouri this weekend.

After winning both matches against UT Martin (13-16, 9-7) last weekend, the Govs are the only team to remain perfect on their home court this season with a 9-0 record. Murray State (14-11, 8-7) entered their two-match home series against Southeast Missouri (21-7, 12-4) last week with a 6-0 record at Racer Arena, but dropped the first match of the series 3-1.

With her seventh kill in Sunday's match against the Skyhawks, graduate student Brooke Moore became Austin Peay's all-time kills leader, passing Sarah Schramka (2001-04), who previously held the record with 1,530 kills

Moore leads a Govs' offense that leads the OVC with a .234 hitting percentage in kills (349) and service aces (33) and is fifth and third in the OVC in kills and service aces, respectively.

Four Govs – Claire Darland (.366, 1st), Maggie Keenan (.355, 2nd), Mikayla Powell (.340, 4th) and Jaida Clark (.278, 9th) – are Top 10 in the OVC through eight weeks of the conference season.

Keenan has been an anchor for the Austin Peay defense and leads the team with 99 total blocks (24 solo) through 91 sets. The Franklin native had a season-high 19 kills with nine blocks in last weekend's series against the Skyhawks.

Murray State is sixth in the OVC standings entering Wednesday's contest and are half a match behind both Tennessee Tech (14-13, 9-7) and UT Martin (13-16, 9-7).

Offensively, the Racers are third in the OVC with a .214 hitting percentage and are led by freshman Brooke Lynn Watts who leads the conference with 430 kills (4.67/set).

In the last meeting between the Govs and Racers, Austin Peay won a thrilling five-set match in the Dunn Center to claim their sixth OVC win of the season and take the all-time series lead in the 38-year-old rivalry. 

Following their match against Murray State, the Govs close out the regular season with a two-match series against Eastern Illinois, Friday-Saturday. The Panthers are 3-13 in conference play and would be the final seed of the OVC Tournament, if the season ended today.

FIRST SWINGS

• Outside hitter Brooke Moore, a Preseason All-OVC selection, is the only player in program history – and sixth in OVC history – to record 1,500 kills and 1,500 digs during their career. She enters Wednesday's match with 1,534 kills (1st all-time) and 1,548 digs (9th).
• With her seventh kill against UT Martin, Nov. 7, Moore became the all-time kills leader, passing Sarah Schramka's (2001-04) previous record of 1,530.
• Right-side hitter Mikayla Powell, the reigning 2020-21 NJCAA National Player of the Year, is a two-time OVC Newcomer of the Week. She is currently second on the team in kills (259) and blocks (64) and is second in the OVC with a .302 hitting percentage through 104 sets.
• The Govs setter tandem of Caroline Waite and Kelsey Mead are in their second year combining to quarterback the Govs offense. The duo ranks 11th and 13th all-time in career assists, respectively. Waite has averaged 4.98 assists and 2.2 digs per set while Mead is averaging 5.36 assists and 1.7 digs per set with 29 aces through 11 weeks.
• Middle blocker Maggie Keenan, who has recorded four or more blocks 15 times this season and leads the Govs with 99 on the season. Her 1.09 blocks per set are currently the third-highest mark in program history
• The Governors have boasted a high-powered offense throughout the season and lead the conference with a .234 attack parentage.
• After sweeping UT Martin, Austin Peay improved to 9-0 at home this season, marking just the third time in program history that the Governors have posted a perfect regular-season record at home (1992, 2018).