BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Anna Rita and Payton Deidesheimer tallied 17 kills on the day, but they were not enough, as Austin Peay State University's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on its first day of the WKU Invitational, falling 3-2 to Eastern Illinois and 3-0 to Arkansas State, Friday, at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Austin Peay vs. Eastern Illinois
Austin Peay (1-8) dropped a five-set decision to Eastern Illinois (4-4) in its first game of the WKU Invitational. Anna Rita led the Govs with 11 kills, while Maggie Duyos paced the team with 16 assists and tied with Tayler Baron for a team-best 14 digs.
The Govs dropped an extended first set to the Panthers, 26-24. They rallied from an 18-11 deficit to tie the set at 23 and fended off a 24-23 set-point, but back-to-back kills by EIU's Tori Mohesky gave the Panthers the win.
APSU dominated offensively and defensively in the second frame, posting a .300 attack percentage after tallying 12 kills with only three errors on 30 swings while additionally forcing EIU to hit in the negatives (-0.053 hitting percentage) with seven kills on nine errors and 38 attempts. The Govs never trailed in the set and earned a convincing, 25-12 win.
Anna Rita led the Govs with four kills in the second set, while also tallying as many blocks.
Eastern Illinois answered, regaining the lead following a 25-15 third-set victory after holding the Govs to a -0.129 hitting percentage, while tallying a 0.24 mark itself.
Payton Deidesheimer, Anna Rita and Sarah Carnathan all tallied a pair of fills in the fourth frame, while Deidesheimer and Rita added a pair of blocks on the defensive end to lead the Govs to a 25-19 set victory in the penultimate frame.
Eastern Illinois secured the match with a 15-7 victory in the deciding match after tallying a 0.412 hitting percentage with nine kills and just a pair of errors.
Anna Rita led the Govs with 11 kills and a .292 hitting percentage. The sophomore middle blocker also matching her season-high with seven blocks in the five-set decision.
Austin Peay vs. Arkansas State
Sarah Carnathan led the Govs' (1-9) offense with nine kills against Arkansas State (9-2), while Maggie Duyos and Kayleigh Ryan split setting duties, finishing with 14 assists apiece.
The Governors registered 19 kills on just two errors in the first set, but dropped a 25-16 decision to open Friday afternoon's match after the Red Wolved had just one error on 35 swings in a 10-kill set.
Arkansas State jumped out to a 10-4 lead early in the second frame, which was answered by a 9-7 run to cut into ASU's advantage. However, after exchanging points for the remainder of the frame, the Red Wolves extended its lead, winning the set, 25-19.
The Red Wolves then claimed the win with a wire-to-wire, 25-16 third set victory.
Up Next
Austin Peay remains in Bowling Green for the final day of the WKU Invitation, where it takes on host Western Kentucky in a 1:30 p.m., Saturday match at E.A. Diddle Arena.
