APSU Sports: Austin Peay Volleyball
Murray, KY – Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team begins a four-match road trip when it meets Murray State for its first Ohio Valley Conference West Division matchup, 7:00pm, Tuesday, at Racer Arena.
The Lady Govs showed some signs of sluggishness after a 10-day layoff prior to the start of conference play, reflected in its play last weekend. The OVC’s best hitting team, Austin Peay was held to a .174 attack percentage to open OVC play. Held up against the team’s .224 attack percentage this season, the quality on opening weekend was lacking.
“I felt the 10-day break had a little to do with our performance last weekend,” said Lady Govs head coach Taylor Mott. “I also feel we were a little nervous playing in front of our home crowd for the first time. Those are things that will be solved as we get deeper into this next run of games and regain the rhythm of playing every weekend again.”
While sophomore Jada Stotts and senior Nikki Doyle led the team last weekend with 28 kills each, it was the Lady Govs middle blockers that stepped up. Junior Lauren Henderson led the team with 16 kills and six blocks against Jacksonville State, Friday. The next day it was sophomore Liz Landon’s turn to shine as she posted a career-high 13 kills against Tennessee Tech.
Murray State was led by the duo of Emily Schmahl and Taylor Olden last weekend. Both players recorded 22 kills (3.67 kills per set) and their 44 kills were the bulk of the Racers 76 team kills last weekend. Murray State has struggled in the early going but a five-set loss to Big 12 member West Virginia just prior to league play showed the squad’s resiliency.
“We cannot afford to overlook anyone we play, particularly in conference play” said Mott. “We have to treat each match as an opportunity to improve and gain better consistency in all phases of the game. We know what we are capable of; we have to put that on the court.”
