Lady Govs volleyball falls to Eastern Illinois

APSU Sports Information: APSU Volleyball

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team saw its home opener spoiled as visiting Eastern Illinois escaped with a four-set Ohio Valley Conference victory (26-24, 19-25, 20-25, 22-25), Friday night at the Dunn Center.

Austin Peay (2-12, 0-3 OVC) controlled play early in the opening set but nearly squandered the opportunity after building a 23-19 lead only to watch Eastern Illinois rally to tie the set, 24-24. However, the Lady Govs did not surrender the lead and senior outside hitter Ilyanna Hernandez scored consecutive kills to end the set, 26-24.

Eastern Illinois (4-10, 2-2) took control of the second set just past the midway point with eight consecutive points, including a pair of service aces by Emily Franklin, to build a 20-12 lead. Austin Peay would close to within four later in the set, 21-17, but could not close the gap en route to a 25-19 loss.

The Panthers tried to put the third set away early, jumping out to an 8-2 lead with Katie Kirby scoring three kills during that early run.

However, Austin Peay rallied with its own 11-5 run – culminating with junior Nikki Doyle scoring back-to-back kills and a block – to tie the set at 13-13. The Lady Govs used another EIU attack error to take their first lead, 14-13, setting up a see-saw battle over the next few points. Eastern Illinois finally gained control with four straight points to take a 19-16 lead en route to a 25-20 victory.

The fourth set was the most closely fought of the match with 11 ties and four lead changes. Austin Peay held a 20-19 lead before Eastern Illinois scored four straight points, including kills by Kirby and Emily Franklin – to take control of the set and closed the match with a 25-22 victory.

“We played well at times,” said Lady Govs head coach Bill Egbert. “Right now we’re unable to sustain anything offensively at crucial times. We have to be able to sustain pressure offensively if we’re going to win close sets.”

Sophomore middle blocker Lauren Henderson led the Lady Govs with 14 kills. Doyle finished the night with 13 kills and freshman middle blocker Hillary Plybon chipped in 10 kills.

A trio of Eastern Illinois hitters finished the match with 14 kills each – Alison Berens, Reynae Hutchinson and Kirby – to account for more than third of the Panthers’ 60-kill output.

Austin Peay returns to action with a 1:00pm, Saturday contest against SIU Edwardsville.