Bowling Green, KY – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) volleyball team fell in straight sets to St. John’s University and the nationally-ranked Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in its first day at the WKU Volleyball Invitational, Friday, at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Outside hitter Brooke Moore led the APSU Govs with 18 kills on the day. Her 10 kills against the Hilltoppers marked the seventh time this season and 73rd time in her career that the fifth year has reached the double-digit mark in a match.
Set-by-Set Recap APSU vs. St. John’s
St. Johns 3, Austin Peay 0
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
| St. John’s | 26 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Austin Peay | 24 | 20 | 20 | 0 |
Austin Peay (5-5) and St. John’s had a back-and-forth battle in a first set where the score was tied 12 times, but the Red Storm took the match’s opening set in a 26-24 overtime victory.
After trailing 13-6 midway through the second set, a Brooke Moore kill followed by an Elizabeth Wheat service ace sparked a 9-2 Govs’ run that tied the score at 15-15. However, a late push by SJU extended its lead with a 25-20 set victory.
St. John’s controlled momentum in the third and final set, resulting in the Govs dropping their first match of the WKU Volleyball Invitational, 25-20.
Freshman outside hitter Elizabeth Wheat lead the Govs with nine kills, followed by graduate student Brooke Moore’s eight.
Junior Kelsey Mead led the Govs with 15 assists against St. John’s.
The Govs posted a .078 hitting percentage against the Red Storm, their lowest mark of the season to that point.
Set-by-Set Recap APSU vs. Western Kentucky
Austin Peay 0, Western Kentucky 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
| Austin Peay | 18 | 16 | 23 | 3 |
| Western Kentucky | 26 | 25 | 25 | 0 |
Austin Peay (5-6) found themselves down 18-9 in the first set following a 6-0 run by Western Kentucky but fought back to trim the deficit to 21-16. The late comeback effort fell short, however, as the Hilltoppers took the set 25-18.
Western Kentucky jumped out to a commanding 9-3 lead to start the second set and carried that lead wire-to-wire in a 25-16 second-set victory.
Despite being down 2-0, the Govs refused to throw in the towel during the third set. The Govs mounted a commanding 8-0 run midway through the set to take a 14-8 lead, but the hosting ‘Toppers answered back with a 10-2 run of their own. With that comeback effort, WKU took the third set 25-23.
The Govs once again posted their lowest hitting percentage of the season against Western Kentucky posting a .042 mark.
Next Up For APSU Volleyball
The Austin Peay State University women’s volleyball team will be back in action at the WKU Volleyball Invitational with a 3:30pm, contest tomorrow against Ohio. The Bobcats are 0-9 on the season and play Lipscomb at 11:30am prior to their contest against the APSU Govs.
