Clarksville, TN – Even though there is still five weeks left before the first official day of fall and one week until classes begin on campus, the athletic school year begins this week for Austin Peay State University (APSU) as the Governors kick-off their official 2019-20 athletic school year this week.
Beginning this Friday, August 23rd, and running through the next seven days after all five of the Govs fall sports (football, soccer, volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country) will kick-off their respective seasons.
Soccer will kick things off with a road trip to east Tennessee this Friday to play at Chattanooga, followed two days later with a matchup at Middle Tennessee, in Murfreesboro, TN.
Those two matches will be the precursor to their first home match at Morgan Brothers Field on August 30th versus Mercer.
Six days after soccer kicks-off their season football begins their 2019 schedule with a Thursday night home game a Fortera Stadium versus North Carolina Central.
The game will be the Govs first Thursday season opener since the beginning of 2017, and the first overall game under new head coach Mark Hudspeth, who was hired as the Governors 20th head coach back in early December 2018.
The final three Governors fall sports will follow a day after football, with volleyball opening in Raleigh, NC, at the North Carolina State Wolfpack Invitational, while men’s and women’s cross country teams travel just down Interstate 24 to Nashville, TN, to participate in the Belmont Opener.
For volleyball, the two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion, the Wolfpack Invitational will be the first of 16 road matches for the Govs to open their schedule before they host their first home match versus Southeast Missouri on October 4th, in the Dunn Center.
For cross country, the opener in Nashville will be the first under new head coach Valerie Brown, who was elevated to head coach of the cross country and track and field teams back in June, after nine years as an assistant on the coaching staff.
The Govs cross country teams will host one meet this fall, the APSU Cross Country Festival on September 21st.
While football, soccer, volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country will be in regular seasons this fall, four other sports — six teams (baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s golf – will also have events over the fall semester, during their respective non-traditional seasons.
