Austin Peay def. Eastern Illinois, 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-15)
Senior outside hitter Stephanie Champine had a match-best 12 kills to lead Austin Peay’s volleyball team in a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-15) Ohio Valley Conference sweep of Eastern Illinois, Friday night, at the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay’s (16-6, 9-2 OVC) offense had little trouble all night, finishing with 47 kills and a season-best .316 attack percentage. That total included an 18-kill second-set performance and an impressive .424 attack percentage (15 kills) in the third set.
Eastern Illinois’ (8-15, 1-9 OVC) could not get its offense going, finishing with just 28 kills and a .124 attack percentage. Some of the Panthers problems could be traced back to the Lady Govs front-row defense which recorded nine blocks, including a five-block night by senior opposite hitter Kirstin Distler.
Champine’s 18th consecutive double-digit kill performance was scored with three kills in the first set, six in the second and three in the third. She added 13 digs for her season’s 13th double-double performance.
In all, eight Lady Govs recorded a kill in the contest, including sophomore outside hitter Ilyanna Hernandez who added 11 kills off the bench. Additionally, Distler had an error-less night, recording seven kills on 10 attacks for a team-best .700 attack percentage. She needs four kills to become the Lady Govs’ ninth player with 1,000 career kills.
Senior outside hitter Alex Zwettler had six kills to lead Eastern Illinois.
Austin Peay hosts sixth-place Southeast Missouri in a 2 p.m. contest, Saturday.
