Austin Peay def. Murray State, 3-0 (25-14, 27-25, 25-20)
On senior day, Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team sent its seniors out with a victory, posting a three-set victory (25-14, 27-25, 25-20) against Murray State, Saturday, in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Dunn Center. It was the regular-season finale for both teams.
Austin Peay (22-8, 15-3 OVC) opened the match with a wire-to-wire victory in the opening set. The Lady Govs jumped out to an 8-4 lead and did not look back, leading by as much as 11 points, 22-11, late. The Lady Govs posted 15 kills in the opening set while the Racers were limited to eight kills.
Murray State (12-17, 11-7) put up a battle in the second set and the two teams traded the lead four times. A Jade Guo kill pushed the Racers to set point, 24-23, but the Lady Govs fended it off with sophomore Ilyanna Hernandez’ kill. After trading points, junior Kayla Grantham gave Austin Peay its first set point, 26-25, which in capitalized on immediately with sophomore Paige Economos’ service ace.
The third set was close early with the two teams battling to four ties in the first 12 points, the last coming at 6-6. Back-to-back service aces by Grantham gave the Lady Govs a 13-9 lead which they would not relinquish. The lead was no larger than three until the set’s end.
Senior outside hitter Stephanie Champine led the Lady Govs with 17 kills and added four service aces. Junior middle blocker Kayla Grantham chipped in eight kills and team-best six services aces.
Austin Peay recorded 47 kills in the victory but found separation courtesy a 15-service ace performance as six different players recorded an ace.
Logan Su led Murray State with 11 kills and Ashley Nenninger chipped in 10 kills. The Racers were held to 39 kills in the contest and did not record a service ace.
Austin Peay begins play in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference volleyball tournament with a Friday semifinal contest against an opponent to be determined. The tournament begins with first-round action, Thursday, at Jacksonville State’s Pete Mathews Coliseum. The Lady Govs receive a bye into the semifinal round courtesy their second-place finish in the league standings.
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