Bowling Green, KY – Anna Rita and Payton Deidesheimer tallied 17 kills on the day, but they were not enough, as the Austin Peay State University (APSU) volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on its first day of the WKU Invitational, falling 3-2 to Eastern Illinois and 3-0 to Arkansas State, Friday, at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Austin Peay vs. Eastern Illinois
Austin Peay (1-8) dropped a five-set decision to Eastern Illinois (4-4) in its first game of the WKU Invitational. Anna Rita led the Govs with 11 kills, while Maggie Duyos paced the team with 16 assists and tied with Tayler Baron for a team-best 14 digs.
The APSU Govs dropped an extended first set to the Panthers, 26-24. They rallied from an 18-11 deficit to tie the set at 23 and fended off a 24-23 set-point, but back-to-back kills by EIU’s Tori Mohesky gave the Panthers the win.
APSU dominated offensively and defensively in the second frame, posting a .300 attack percentage after tallying 12 kills with only three errors on 30 swings while additionally forcing EIU to hit in the negatives (-0.053 hitting percentage) with seven kills on nine errors and 38 attempts. The Govs never trailed in the set and earned a convincing, 25-12 win.
Anna Rita led the APSU Govs with four kills in the second set, while also tallying as many blocks.
Eastern Illinois answered, regaining the lead following a 25-15 third-set victory after holding Austin Peay State University to a -0.129 hitting percentage, while tallying a 0.24 mark itself.
Payton Deidesheimer, Anna Rita, and Sarah Carnathan all tallied a pair of fills in the fourth frame, while Deidesheimer and Rita added a pair of blocks on the defensive end to lead the Govs to a 25-19 set victory in the penultimate frame.
Eastern Illinois secured the match with a 15-7 victory in the deciding match after tallying a 0.412 hitting percentage with nine kills and just a pair of errors.
Anna Rita led the APSU Govs with 11 kills and a .292 hitting percentage. The sophomore middle blocker also matching her season-high with seven blocks in the five-set decision.
Austin Peay vs. Arkansas State
Sarah Carnathan led the Austin Peay State University’s (1-9) offense with nine kills against Arkansas State (9-2), while Maggie Duyos and Kayleigh Ryan split setting duties, finishing with 14 assists apiece.
The Governors registered 19 kills on just two errors in the first set, but dropped a 25-16 decision to open Friday afternoon’s match after the Red Wolved had just one error on 35 swings in a 10-kill set.
Arkansas State jumped out to a 10-4 lead early in the second frame, which was answered by a 9-7 run to cut into ASU’s advantage. However, after exchanging points for the remainder of the frame, the Red Wolves extended its lead, winning the set, 25-19.
The Red Wolves then claimed the win with a wire-to-wire, 25-16 third set victory.
Next Up For APSU Volleyball
The Austin Peay State University volleyball team remains in Bowling Green for the final day of the WKU Invitation, where it takes on host Western Kentucky in a Saturday 1:30pm match at E.A. Diddle Arena.
