Murray, KY – A defensive effort that resulted in a season-high 15 blocks fell just shy of a victory as the Austin Peay State University (APSU) volleyball team dropped a five-set (23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 10-15) Ohio Valley Conference decision to Murray State, Wednesday night at Racer Arena in a First Financial Battle of the Border contest.
APSU (10-19, 8-7 OVC) got an impressive blocking performance from freshman Tegan Seyring and sophomores Aysha Hood and Claire Darland.
Seyring, the reigning OVC Newcomer of the Week, pieced together a career-high 10 blocks. Hood went in for a career-high eight blocks while Darland chipped in on seven blocks, also a career best.
The Governors defensive effort reached its height in the third set, holding Murray State to a minus-.026 attack percentage with 11 attack errors. Austin Peay would win the set 25-19 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Murray State (17-10, 11-4 OVC) would solve the Governors block in the fourth and fifth sets. The Racers posted 20 kills in the fourth, committing just four errors, as they leveled the match. Murray State would win the fifth set wire-to-wire, using a 13-kill outing that saw them post a .500 attack percentage.
Austin Peay State University’s offense was well balanced throughout the match. Junior Chloe Stitt led the APSU Govs with 15 kills and a .419 attack percentage. Hood added a career-best 10 kills and a .550 attack percentage to round out her career-best outing. Junior Brooke Moore also had 10 kills and 13 digs for her 14th double-double.
Murray State’s Rachel Giustino recorded 33 kills, 11 of those coming in the fourth set. Rachel Holthaus added 21 kills and a .462 attack percentage.
Next Up For APSU Volleyball
The Governors close out the 2019 regular season with a 2:00pm, Saturday contest against Eastern Kentucky at the Dunn Center. Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team is hosting a canned-food drive for Clarksville’s Manna Café with fans invited to bring canned food and non-perishable food items to Saturday’s contest.
