Cape Girardeau, MO – A pivotal Ohio Valley Conference volleyball matchup is on tap when the Austin Peay State University (APSU) volleyball team visits Southeast Missouri for a pair of matches between third-place teams, Sunday-Monday at Houck Field House.
Both the Governors and Redhawks two losses have come against teams atop the league standings.
APSU dropped a pair to co-leader Morehead State while SEMO fell to co-leader Jacksonville State to begin the season.
Austin Peay State University takes to the road after a confidence-building sweep of Murray State, last weekend.
The APSU Govs used a 26-kill effort by outside hitter Chloe Stitt to claim the opener. The second match was dominated by the Govs special teams with 10 blocks and six service aces denying the Racers any offensive consistency.
Southeast Missouri is the hottest team in the league outside the co-leaders, extending their win streak to eight matches with a sweep of UT Martin, last weekend. Laney Malloy led the way with 27 kills (4.5 per set). But it was the SEMO defense that stood out, limiting the Skyhawks to a .093 attack percentage in the series.
First Swings
Outside hitter Chloe Stitt tied an OVC single-match high with her 26-kill effort against Murray State. She moved to 4th among OVC hitters in kills per set (3.88) thanks to the effort.
Outside hitter Brooke Moore, a Preseason All-OVC selection, has double-digit kills in 7 of the APSU Govs 10 matches and double-doubles in four of them. Last season, she became the 8th Govs player surpass both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs during their career.
Middle blocker Claire Darland set a program record with a .846 attack percentage (11-0-13) in the EIU opener, February 28th. She posted 6 blocks in the Murray State opener and is tied for second on the team with 16 blocks this season.
Middle blocker Karli Graham finished the Murray State series with 16 kills (2.29/set), a .424 attack percentage, and 11 blocks (1.57/set). She ranks 7th in the OVC with 0.97 blocks per set this season.
Austin Peay State University setter tandem of Caroline Waite and Kelsey Mead. has marshaled the Govs to a .246 team attack percentage this season. Mead leads the duo with 6.52 assists per set and has 12 service aces (0.36/set). Waite is averaging 4.88 assists per set and has 65 digs (1.97/set).
After three seasons as the APSU Govs understudy, senior Nina Korfhage took over as the lead libero this spring. She has posted 20 digs in a match three times this season, including a career-best 27 digs against Murray State, Monday. Korfhage is currently No. 7 on the OVC’s digs list with 4.24 digs per set.
Outside hitter Taylor McInerney made a splash at Eastern Illinois, opening the series with a career-best 16 kills. One week later, she broke through again against Murray State with 14 kills and a .609 attack percentage in the series finale.
Outside hitter Kaylah Jackson made her first extended appearances of the year against Murray State and provided an offensive boost with 15 kills (2.5/set) in the series and a .294 attack percentage.
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