APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – Ashley Slay‘s kill on an eighth-match point opportunity gave Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team a five-set Ohio Valley Conference victory (26-24, 26-24, 9-25, 11-25, 23-21) against Southeast Missouri, Friday night, at the Dunn Center.
The tiebreaking set featured 14 ties and six lead changes. Austin Peay had two match point chances in regulation, but could not convert. Instead the two teams battled through a combined 10 match-point opportunities, the Lady Govs converting on their eighth chance.
After two ties in the first eight points, Austin Peay (8-21, 2-11 OVC) used an early 4-1 run to build an 8-5 lead at the changeover. Southeast Missouri battled back to tie the set, 9-9, with a 4-1 run of its own. A fifth tie, at 11-11, was followed by three straight Lady Govs points, capped by a Slay kill, for a match-point at 14-11.
Southeast Missouri (10-16, 6-7 OVC) fended off three match points thanks to kills by Madalyn Werths and Marie Less plus a Haley Roberts service ace, tying the frame at 14-14. Austin Peay would get another pair of match points at 15-14 and 16-15, but could not convert. Instead the Redhawks scored back-to-back points to set up their first chance to end the match at 17-16.
The Lady Govs responded with a block and a Kelly Ferguson kill to get match point back in its hands at 18-17, 19-18 and 20-19 but again failed to connect. The Redhawks countered with consecutive points for their second match point chance, 21-20, but were denied by an attack error.
Austin Peay regained the momentum with a Peyton Walker kill for a match point at 22-21. This time the Lady Govs converted thanks to a Slay kill for the 23-21 victory.
The fifth set resembled the first two sets, which required overtime before Austin Peay secured consecutive 26-24 victories. Southeast Missouri posted dominating wire-to-wire efforts in the third and fourth sets to tie the match and force the decisive fifth sets.
Ferguson led Austin Peay with a 15-kill performance that saw her record a .303 attack percentage. Samantha Strother added an 11-kill, 13-dig double-double while Walker chipped in 10 kills. Slay, who saw limited action, recorded five kills in the fifth set and finished with six kills.
Nzingha Clarke and Krissa Gearring each had 17 kills to pace Southeast Missouri. Weths added 16 kills and Less chipped in 10 kills.
Austin Peay, which staved off elimination from the OVC Volleyball Tournament with Friday’s win, continues its four-match homestand with a 1:00pm, Saturday contest against UT Martin.
Box Score
Southeast Missouri (10-16, 6-7 OVC) -VS- Austin Peay (8-21, 2-11 OVC)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Missouri | 24 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 21 |
| Austin Peay | 26 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 23 |
Match Details
| Set | Southeast Missouri | Austin Peay | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K | E | TA | % | K | E | TA | % | |
| 1 | 9 | 7 | 35 | .057 | 16 | 10 | 48 | .125 |
| 2 | 15 | 4 | 34 | .324 | 17 | 5 | 47 | .255 |
| 3 | 14 | 0 | 24 | .583 | 8 | 8 | 31 | .000 |
| 4 | 17 | 1 | 35 | .457 | 9 | 5 | 40 | .100 |
| 5 | 12 | 8 | 48 | .083 | 14 | 6 | 41 | .195 |
| 67 | 20 | 176 | .267 | 64 | 34 | 207 | .145 | |
Game Leaders
Southeast Missouri
| Kills | GEARRING, Krissa (17), CLARKE, Nzingha (17), WERTHS, Madalyn (16) |
|---|---|
| Aces | ROTTA, Katarina (4), LESS, Marie (2), GEARRING, Krissa (1) |
| Blocks | CLARKE, Nzingha (6), MCELDERRY, Jessica (4), WERTHS, Madalyn (4) |
| Assists | ROTTA, Katarina (46), FORNOFF, Keegan (8), MORTIMER, Jade (3) |
| Digs | LESS, Marie (24), MORTIMER, Jade (19), GEARRING, Krissa (15) |
Austin Peay
| Kills | FERGUSON, Kelly (15), STROTHER, Samantha (11), WALKER, Peyton (10) |
|---|---|
| Aces | EBRIGHT, Sammie (2), STROTHER, Samantha (2), ADAMS, April (1) |
| Blocks | MARSELLIS, Aubrey (5), FERGUSON, Kelly (2), SLAY, Ashley (2) |
| Assists | MARSELLIS, Aubrey (31), STUCKER, Kristen (26), FERGUSON, Kelly (2) |
| Digs | ADAMS, April (16), STUCKER, Kristen (14), STROTHER, Samantha (13) |
