Charleston, IL – Early offensive struggles proved too much to overcome as the Austin Peay State University (APSU) volleyball team dropped a four-set (13-25, 13-25, 25-21, 20-25) Ohio Valley Conference match to Eastern Illinois, Friday, at Lantz Arena.
In her first action since a September 18th match against Ohio, junior Tegan Seyring led Austin Peay State University with a perfect hitting percentage on five attacks in the second set; however, the Govs were unable to stop the Panthers’ (11-16, 4-13) offense and dropped the second set, 25-13.
The Govs took their second lead of the afternoon early in the third set after Seyring’s sixth kill gave them a 9-8 advantage. APSU controlled the lead throughout the remainder of the set and trimmed the deficit to one following a 25-21 victory.
A 4-0 run by EIU after the fourth set’s media timeout caused head coach Taylor Mott to call her first timeout and, while the APSU Govs were able to trim the deficit to two late, fell in the final set, 25-20.
Set-By-Set Austin Peay Against Eastern Illinois
After scoring the match’s first point on an EIU error, the Governors were outscored 9-2 and forced to call their first timeout. Four-straight APSU errors gave the Panthers a 15-6 advantage later in the set before a 3-0 run gave EIU a 20-10 lead, forced the Govs to call their final timeout, and paved the way to a 25-13 first-set victory.
After leading 15-9 at the second set’s media timeout, the Panthers controlled the momentum through frame and extended their lead with their second-straight 25-13 victory.
Austin Peay held their largest lead of the match at 13-11 in the third set and led 20-17 later in the set, bringing up an EIU timeout. Two-straight points by the Panthers cut the deficit to one, but APSU held off the Panthers’ late comeback attempt and won their first set of the afternoon following a match-high .386 hitting percentage and five kills from Tegan Seyring.
Two-straight errors by APSU gave Eastern Illinois a 15-13 lead at the fourth set’s media timeout. The Panthers went on a 4-0 run following the timeout and led 22-17 after Austin Peay State University’s final timeout. The Panthers won the match-clinching set 25-20 after holding the Govs’ offense to a .107 hitting percentage.
Next Up For APSU Volleyball
The Austin Peay State University volleyball team’s loss is the first to Eastern Illinois since 2015 and locks them into a three seed in the upcoming OVC Tournament, November 18th-20th, which will be hosted by the winner of tomorrow’s match between Morehead State (18-10, 14-3) and Southeast Missouri (22-7, 13-4).
Box Score
Austin Peay 1, Eastern Illinois 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Austin Peay | 13 | 13 | 25 | 20 | 1 |
| Eastern Illinois | 25 | 25 | 21 | 25 | 3 |
