Written by Cody Bush
APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team concludes a four-match Ohio Valley Conference road swing with contests at Southeast Missouri and UT Martin this weekend.
The Lady Govs open the weekend with a 6:30pm, Friday contest at Southeast Missouri before an 11:00am, Saturday contest at UT Martin.
If there is a word to describe Austin Peay’s (8-11, 2-2 OVC West) conference start it is inconsistency. In two OVC wins, the Lady Govs have posted a .266 attack percentage while averaging 14.9 kills per set. However, in its two losses Austin Peay has been held to a .132 attack percentage and 12.9 kills per set.Senior Nikki Doyle has found her stride in conference play, leading the Lady Govs with 59 kills (3.93 kills per set) and posting double-digit kills in each match. She was Austin Peay’s leading hitter in both matches last week, recording 17 kills at Murray State and another 14 at Eastern Kentucky.
“I think Nikki is being successful because she is just being aggressive,” said Lady Govs head coach Taylor Mott. “She’s taken some big swings and that can lead to some errors, but when she gets into a rhythm she’s hard to stop. She was the only player that kept us in the match (at Eastern Kentucky) with any consistency.”
Meanwhile, sophomore Jada Stotts has found the going tougher in conference play as teams have focused on her. She has been held to a .119 attack percentage despite posting 51 kills (3.40 kills per set) in league play.
“I believe Jada just needs to keep playing hard,” said Mott. “Sometimes she gets rattled when she gets blocked. We have reminded her that is going to happen, she has to keep going out there and swinging away.”
UT Martin (6-12, 2-2 OVC West) has alternated wins and losses in its last six outings and suffered a three-set loss at Evansville, Tuesday. The Skyhawks opened league play with four consecutive road contests and return to Skyhawk Fieldhouse for the first time since September 1st. UT Martin is unexpectedly young after senior Kelly Hogan was lost for the year due to injury. Five of the Skyhawks six leading hitters are freshman but they are anchored defensively by senior libero Kasey Elswick, who leads the league with 5.86 digs per set.