APSU Sports: Austin Peay Women’s Volleyball
Clarksville, TN – A nine-match home schedule and a vastly modified conference schedule highlight the 2012 Austin Peay State University volleyball schedule, released by first-year head coach Taylor Mott, Tuesday.
The first third of the Lady Govs’ schedule will be consumed by trips to Memphis, Missouri State and Alabama for pre-conference tournaments. The Lady Govs also will play single non-conference outings at Western Kentucky, Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee.
Austin Peay opens the regular season with four matches at the Memphis Invitational, August 24th-25th. The Lady Govs will meet host Memphis to start the season before contests against UALR, Eastern Michigan and Southern Illinois. Following the tournament, Austin Peay will travel to Western Kentucky, August 28th, for one of its four solo non-conference tilts.
The Lady Govs next competition is August 31st-September 1st at the adidas Invitational hosted by Missouri State in Springfield, MO. Austin Peay will meet Dayton and UALR in Friday action before facing Oral Roberts and Missouri State, Saturday. The Lady Govs then return to Tennessee to face Lipscomb in a September 4th contest in Nashville.
Austin Peay wraps up the tournament portion of its schedule with a trip to the Bama Bash, September 7th-8th, in Tuscaloosa, AL – the second consecutive season it has played in the tournament. The Lady Govs will meet East Tennessee, Alabama, Lamar and Alabama State in the four-match competition. Austin Peay again will return home and wrap up its season-opening 15-match road trip with a visit to Middle Tennessee, September 11th.
“Our preseason schedule offers a mix of quality opponents and winnable matches,” said Mott. “We return a core of experienced players who understand what we need to accomplish in the season’s first three weekends and I believe this schedule offers us the ability to hone our skills and have some early success.”
The Lady Govs will then take a 10-day break before beginning its 16-game Ohio Valley Conference schedule, which will feature a few new twists. First, Belmont officially joins the league as its newest member and begins play in all league sports. In addition, SIU Edwardsville becomes a full league member and will be eligible for postseason play for the first time. With Belmont’s addition and the subsequent increase to 12 volleyball playing members, the OVC’s volleyball teams will be split into two divisions for only the second time in league history.
“We will obviously look forward to our conference schedule,” said Mott. “In the short time I have had to acquaint myself with the league I have come to understand that the OVC has quality volleyball programs. I believe we will have to come ready to play every day in order to be successful and achieve our goals.”
The 16-game OVC slate will provide Austin Peay nine of its ten 2012 home games. The Lady Govs will open their home slate with a weekend OVC set against Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech, September 21st-22nd. Three weeks later, Austin Peay will host Middle Tennessee in a non-conference matchup, October 10th, before hosting Eastern Illinois and SIU Edwardsville, October 12th-13th.
Austin Peay will wrap up the regular-season portion of its schedule with a four-match home stand in November. UT Martin and Southeast Missouri visit in divisional matchups, November 2nd-3rd, before APSU hosts divisional travel partner Murray State in a Tuesday outing. An interdivisional matchup with Morehead State will conclude the regular season, November 10th.
The 2012 OVC Volleyball Championship will be played the following week over three days, November 15th-19th. With 12 volleyball playing members, the league announced the championship will expand to eight qualifying teams. Each divisional champion will receive an automatic berth into the tournament. The next six teams by winning percentage, regardless of division, will earn a berth. All eight teams will be seeded into the tournament by winning percentage, regardless of division.
Notably
Five opponents competed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament: Lipscomb, Middle Tennessee, Missouri State, Morehead State and Western Kentucky.
Nine opponents posted 20-plus wins last season: Belmont (21-9), Memphis (20-13), Eastern Michigan (21-11), Dayton (25-7), Oral Roberts (20-10), Missouri State (22-9), Lipscomb (20-11), Middle Tennessee (21-12) and Morehead State (26-8).
Austin Peay was 4-6 against its fellow West Division teams in 2011 and 5-5 against the East Division. The Lady Govs did not play Belmont in 2011 and they will resume a series that was last played in 2008.
2012 APSU Volleyball Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time (CT) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis Invitational | |||||
| Fri, Aug 24 | Memphis | at Memphis, Tenn. | 12:00 p.m. | ||
| Fri, Aug 24 | UALR | at Memphis, Tenn. | 4:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Aug 25 | Eastern Michigan | at Memphis, Tenn. | 10:00 a.m. | ||
| Sat, Aug 25 | Southern Illinois | at Memphis, Tenn. | 2:00 p.m. | ||
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| Tue, Aug 28 | Western Kentucky | at Bowling Green, Ky. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| adidas Invitational | |||||
| Fri, Aug 31 | Dayton | at Springfield, Mo. | 10:00 a.m. | ||
| Fri, Aug 31 | UALR | at Springfield, Mo. | 5:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Sep 01 | Oral Roberts | at Springfield, Mo. | 12:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Sep 01 | Missouri State | at Springfield, Mo. | 6:00 p.m. | ||
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| Tue, Sep 04 | Lipscomb | at Nashville, Tenn. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Bama Bash | |||||
| Fri, Sep 07 | East Tennessee | at Tuscaloosa, Ala. | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Fri, Sep 07 | Alabama | at Tuscaloosa, Ala. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Sep 08 | Lamar | at Tuscaloosa, Ala. | 9:00 a.m. | ||
| Sat, Sep 08 | Alabama State | at Tuscaloosa, Ala. | 4:30 p.m. | ||
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| Tue, Sep 11 | Middle Tennessee | at Murfreesboro, Tenn. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Fri, Sep 21 | Jacksonville State * | Clarksville, Tenn. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Sep 22 | Tennessee Tech * | Clarksville, Tenn. | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Tue, Sep 25 | Murray State * | at Murray, Ky. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Sep 29 | Eastern Kentucky * | at Richmond, Ky. | 1:00 p.m. | ||
| Fri, Oct 05 | Southeast Missouri * | at Cape Girardeau, Mo. | 6:30 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Oct 06 | UT Martin * | at Martin, Tenn. | 11:00 a.m. | ||
| Wed, Oct 10 | Middle Tennessee | Clarksville, Tenn. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Fri, Oct 12 | Eastern Illinois * | Clarksville, Tenn. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Oct 13 | SIU Edwardsville * | Clarksville, Tenn. | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Fri, Oct 19 | SIU Edwardsville * | at Edwardsville, Ill. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Oct 20 | Eastern Illinois * | at Charleston, Ill. | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Tue, Oct 23 | Belmont * | at Nashville, Tenn. | 6:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Oct 27 | Tennessee State * | at Nashville, Tenn. | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Fri, Nov 02 | UT Martin * | Clarksville, Tenn. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Nov 03 | Southeast Missouri * | Clarksville, Tenn. | 5:00 p.m. | ||
| Tue, Nov 06 | Murray State * | Clarksville, Tenn. | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Nov 10 | Morehead State * | Clarksville, Tenn. | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championship | |||||
| Thu, Nov 15 – Mon, Nov 19 |
Championship | at TBA | TBA | ||
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| 2012 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship | |||||
| Thu, Nov 29 – Fri, Nov 30 |
First Round | at TBA | TBA | ||
| Sat, Dec 01 – Sun, Dec 02 |
Second Round | at TBA | TBA | ||
| Thu, Dec 06 – Fri, Dec 07 |
Regional Semifinals | at TBA | TBA | ||
| Sat, Dec 08 – Sun, Dec 09 |
Regional Finals | at TBA | TBA | ||
| Thu, Dec 13 | National Semifinals | at Louisville, Ky. | TBA | ||
| Sat, Dec 15 | National Championship | at Louisville, Ky. | TBA | ||
