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HomeSportsAPSU Volleyball loses home opener to Western Kentucky

APSU Volleyball loses home opener to Western Kentucky

APSU Sports Information

APSU Women's Volleyball - Austin Peay State UniversityClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team battled out of the gate in its home opener but could not keep pace with No. 19 Western Kentucky in a three-set loss (21-25, 14-25, 14-25), Tuesday night at the Dunn Center.

Austin Peay (2-2) was able to keep pace in a wide open offensive first set that saw the teams combine for 36 kills.

Austin Peay Women's Volleyball loses hard fought game to Western Kentucky at the Dunn Center Tuesday night. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Women’s Volleyball loses hard fought game to Western Kentucky at the Dunn Center Tuesday night. (APSU Sports Information)

The Governors offense was the cleaner side, with just two attack errors against 16 kills, but the Hilltoppers compensated with a 21-kill effort.

APSU fought to within a two points at 23-21, but could not close the gap. WKU got back-to-back kills from Sydney Engle and Jessica Lucas to seal the win.

Western Kentucky (4-0) used its service game to disrupt the Austin Peay offense in a pair of wire-to-wire wins to clinch the match.

APSU Volleyball - Ashley SlayWhile WKU didn’t register many aces, the damage of its serving showed offensively as the Govs were held to .086 hitting and nine kills in the second set followed by a .065 attack percentage and eight kills in the third frame.

The Governors finished the match with 32 kills, junior outside hitter Christina White leading the effort with a 10-kill, one-error outing that saw her hit .429. Junior Ashley Slay finished with seven kills and five blocks.

Alyssa Cavanaugh’s 14-kill performance off the bench led Western Kentucky’s 54-kill effort. Rachel Anderson and Engle each added 10 kills.

Inside the Box Score

White Paces Govs Offense
For the third time this season, junior outside hitter Christina White led Austin Peay’s offense. She notched a 10-kill performance against WKU while posting a season-best .429 attack percentage. After the season’s first full week, White leads APSU with 38 kills (2.71 per set).

Slay at the Net
Junior middle blocker Ashley Slay made her presence felt on the front row, notching a season-best five blocks, including four solo stops. She also had seven kills (.182 attack percentage) against WKU. Slay now had nine blocks (0.90 per set) after the opening week of action.

Govs Open Strong
Austin Peay didn’t shrink from the challenge posted by the nationally-ranked Hilltoppers. Playing its home opener, APSU kept pace with WKU in the opening set and was arguably the cleaner team. The Govs had 15 kills and two blocks in the opening set and committed just six errors. WKU had nine errors in the first set (six attacking, three blocking) but overcame the sloppiness with 21 kills.

Austin Peay begins a six-match, 14-day road trip when it travels to Troy, Alabama for the Troy Invitational, Friday-Saturday. The Govs will face New Mexico State, Southern and Valparaiso in the three-match tourney.

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