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HomeSportsAPSU Lady Govs Volleyball hosts Tennessee State Tigers, Tuesday

APSU Lady Govs Volleyball hosts Tennessee State Tigers, Tuesday

Austin Peay State University Lady Govs - APSUClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team will seek to get back on a winning track when it hosts Tennessee State in a 7:00pm, Tuesday, Ohio Valley Conference contest at the Dunn Center.

Austin Peay's volleyball team will look to end a two-match home losing streak when it hosts Tennessee State, Tuesday. (Brittney Sparn/APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay’s volleyball team will look to end a two-match home losing streak when it hosts Tennessee State, Tuesday.
(Brittney Sparn/APSU Sports Information)

Austin Peay (9-17, 6-4 OVC) enters the midweek outing after suffering losses in the first two matches of the five-match homestand, the first time the Lady Govs have suffered consecutive home losses during head coach Taylor Mott’s tenure.

The losses dropped the Lady Govs to second in the OVC’s West Division, one game behind Eastern Illinois, and fourth overall on the conference board.

Lauren HendersonSenior Lauren Henderson was the Lady Govs lone bright spot in last week’s action. Her 14 blocks in the two matches moved her to the top of the league’s block leaders. Henderson now is averaging an impressive 1.39 blocks per set in conference play, 19 points higher than the next blocker on the list. She also led the team with 24 kills (3.43 per set) and a .358 attack percentage in the matches against SIUE and Eastern Illinois.

“Last weekend wasn’t pretty,” said Lady Govs head coach Taylor Mott. “We didn’t have any offensive flow and that comes down to we weren’t passing the ball like we’re used to in conference play. Lauren showed up and had two of her best performances for us. However, she was really the only person who had two consistent outings. We don’t have a lot of time to get right this week, but we will have to because we have two tough opponents coming in here.”

Aubrey MarsellisInjuries are piling up for the Lady Govs. They lost senior outside hitter Calyn Hull for the season after she suffered a lower-body injury in practice prior to last week’s matches. Then junior setter Cami Fields was injured and will miss some time after suffering a body injury during Saturday’s match against Eastern Illinois.

“Losing Calyn and Cami is tough,” said Mott. “Calyn was providing us with a quality effort each time out. We have a couple of people who we are asking to step up and fill that role for us. Cami was giving us another productive season and we wouldn’t have made it through the first half of the campaign without her leadership. Her workload will fall to Aubrey (Marsellis), who has shown she can carry the load when needed.”

Scouting the Opposition

Tennessee State (9-12, 5-5 OVC) wrapped up a four-match homestand with three-set wins against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State over the weekend. The Tigers have won four of their last five and have recovered from a 1-3 start to conference play to sit among a four-way tie for fifth place in the league.

Junior Naomi Wells leads Tennessee State’s offense and ranks third among OVC hitters with a 3.57 kill per set mark in conference play. Freshman Arijana Anderson is close behind at eighth in the league with 3.28 kills per set. They are one of only two hitting tandems in the OVC where both hitters are ranked among the league’s top 10 in kills average.

Series History and Last Season’s Meetings

Austin Peay and Tennessee State split last season’s two meetings. The Lady Govs won the regular-season tilt in four sets at Tennessee State. The Tigers exacted their revenge with a four-set win that knocked Austin Peay out of the OVC Tournament.

Still, APSU holds a 45-9 edge all-time against TSU, including a 21-3 mark at the Dunn Center.

On the Web

Tuesday’s match can be seen on the OVC Digital Network, the free nationwide ipTV service of the Ohio Valley Conference. In addition, live statistics can be seen at www.LetsGoPeay.com

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