APSU Women’s Volleyball set for run at OVC Championships

Austin Peay Sports Information

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team will have to travel the more difficult road through the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championship which begins when it faces No. 2 seed Belmont in a 12:30pm, Thursday contest at Murray State’s Racer Arena.

In addition, the semifinals and championship matches will be available on www.ESPN3.com.

Seventh-seeded Austin Peay (14-18, 8-8 OVC) finds itself in a portion of the bracket brimming with teams it could not find answers against in regular-season meetings.

First up is the match against Belmont, a team that handed Austin Peay a four-set loss, October 18th.

Also in its half of the bracket are No. 3 seed Eastern Kentucky and No. 6 seed Eastern Illinois. The Lady Govs and Colonels closed out the regular season with an intense five-set match that fell EKU’s way. Austin Peay also could not solve Eastern Illinois, which handed it two losses during the regular season, though APSU won at least a set each time.

“It’s certainly not going to be the easiest path to the championship,” said Lady Govs head coach Taylor Mott. “However, one thing about this team is it always rises to a challenge. There is no doubt that we have to go into each match and fight like it might be our last… because if we don’t have that mentality, it will be our last match.”

Senior Hillary Plybon has stood out during the regular season’s final four weeks, recording 90 of her 191 kills this season in that span. She led the Lady Govs offense against both Murray State, last Tuesday, and Eastern Kentucky, Saturday, recording a season-high 16 kills in the latter match.

“Hillary has been playing her heart out since returning from her injury,” said Mott. “She has been attacking the ball with an energy we haven’t seen from her until now. She has become one of our go-to hitters down the stretch.”

Belmont  (17-13, 13-3 OVC) brings a four-match win streak – all three-set sweeps – into Thursday’s match.

The Bruins boast the league’s second-ranked offense with a .221 attack percentage and the OVC’s second-ranked defense, limiting opponents to a .164 attack percentage. In addition, Belmont leads all league teams in service aces, averaging 1.59 per set during the season.

The winner of the Austin Peay-Belmont contest will face the winner of the Eastern Kentucky-Eastern Illinois match in a 4:30pm, Friday semifinal contest.

Video – Taylor Mott

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdFKXP3JkMw[/youtube]