Austin Peay vs. Tennessee Tech
OVC Tournament: Round One
Thursday, November 18th, 2021 | 10:00am CT
Cape Girardeau, MO | Houck Field House
Clarksville, TN – Head coach Taylor Mott leads the Austin Peay State University (APSU) volleyball team to the Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championship for the eighth time in her career, starting with a Thursday, 10:00am, match against Tennessee Tech at Houck Field House in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
The Govs are led by a pair of proven veterans and First Team All-OVC selections in graduate student Brooke Moore and junior Mikayla Powell. The duo led APSU to the OVC’s most efficient offense with a .229 hitting percentage.
Austin Peay State University’s all-time kills leader, Moore leads the Govs with 383 kills and 348 digs in her final season in Clarksville, while Powell is currently second on the team in kills (283) and blocks (70) has the second-best attack percentage in the OVC with a .300 mark.
Erin Eisenhart and Maggie Keenan have helped solidify the Govs’ defensive end through the season. Eisenhart posted double-digit digs in six of the final seven matches and finished the season second on the team with 337 digs. Keenan posted an OVC-best 21 solo blocks during the conference slate and finished third in the OVC with 112 total blocks.
First Swings
Outside hitter Brooke Moore, a First Team All-OVC selection, is the only player in program history – and sixth in OVC history – to record 1,500 kills and 1,500 digs during their career. She enters Wednesday’s match with 1,568 kills (1st all-time) and 1,583 digs (8th).
With her seventh kill against UT Martin, November 7th, Moore became the APSU Govs all-time kills leader, passing Sarah Schramka’s (2001-04) previous record of 1,530.
Middle blocker Maggie Keenan served as a defensive anchor for the APSU Govs in the regular season and led the team with 112 blocks. The Franklin native posted five or more blocks 13 times in her sophomore campaign, while her 1.09 blocks/set are currently third all-time in program history.
The APSU Govs setter tandem of Caroline Waite and Kelsey Mead are in their second year combining to quarterback the Govs offense. The duo ranks 11th and 12th all-time in career assists, respectively. Waite has averaged 4.98 assists and 2.12 digs per set while Mead is averaged 5.26 assists and 1.67 digs per set with 31 aces in the regular season.
A defensive specialist, Erin Eisenhart posted two 25-dig outings during the final week of the regular season. The Huntsville, Alabama native finished second on the team with 337 total digs and led the Govs with 3.34 digs/set.
Right-side hitter Mikayla Powell, a First Team All-OVC selection and two-time OVC Newcomer of the Week, is currently second on the team in kills (283) and blocks (70) and is second in the OVC with a .300 hitting percentage.
Austin Peay State University finished the season with the OVC’s most efficient offense, finishing with a conference-best .229 hitting percentage and a .246 mark during the OVC slate.
The Governors’ 20-win season marks the 11th time the feat has been accomplished in program history, while the 13 conference victories are tied for the third-most in a season under head coach Taylor Mott.
Coaches Corner
Austin Peay State University head coach Taylor Mott
On the regular season… “If we would have won one more match, we would have had a share in the conference title which is a little disappointing, but we learned a lot of lessons from that as a team. We have to play hard all the time against everyone… Hopefully that has given us some motivation going into the tournament. Southeast Missouri can be a tough place to play, but at this point, we have nothing to lose. We are going to put it all out there, give it all we have and see what happens.
On the strength of the OVC… “This year the conference is strong top to bottom. In some years, it could be easy to look past the first round and prepare for the second, but this year you can’t do that… It’s good for the conference to have more depth. We are going to take this one match at a time.”
On Tennessee Tech… “If you lose here, you’re out. While I didn’t love the conference schedule where we played the same team back-to-back, a lot of us looked at it like ‘if we didn’t win the first night, we can go back, readjust and get a second chance,’ but in the conference tournament, that doesn’t happen. We’ll prepare for them like we always do, but I think the girls will understand that there isn’t a second chance in this one.”
Next Up For APSU Volleyball
If the Austin Peay State University women’s volleyball team defeats the Tennessee Tech, they will advance to play the winner of No.2 Morehead State and No. 7 Belmont in the semifinals at 3:00pm, Friday, at Houck Field House.
