MATCH STATS
- (#1) Austin Peay def. (#3) Murray State 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 15-10)
- Austin Peay improves to 30-5 (14-2, OVC); Murray State falls to 22-9 (12-4, OVC)
- Clarksville, Tennessee (Ohio Valley Conference Championship Match)
- Attendance: 1,034
- Box Score
Clarksville, Tennessee – Austin Peay hitting the 30-win plateau wasn’t the biggest mark of the night as the Governors claimed the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship. The win gives them both the regular and post-season titles, with the ladder providing them an automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Their opponent was the three-seed in the tournament in Murray State, who was riding a seven-match winning streak. The Racers gave Austin Peay all that they could handle, as both teams were similarly strong in every facet of play with the Governors edging things out in hitting percentage (.278 to .230), aces (7-6), digs (99-86) and blocks (9-7). Leading the way and doing it all for Austin Peay was the OVC Tournament MVP in Brooke Moore (15 kills, .250, 17 digs), who was great on both ends of the court once again.
The opening set saw Austin Peay take the first three points, but the lead wouldn’t last long as Murray State netted 13 of the next 20. Things remained close toward the end at 21-19, but a kill and block by Ashley Slay (five kills, four digs, three blocks) along with an ace and bad set from the Governors gave the Racers the first game 25-21.
In the second, things were tight throughout as the lead exchanged eight times to go with 14 ties. An Alex Kaufmann (eight digs, two aces) ace pushed Murray State ahead in the back-and-forth set at 20-19 but two straight Kaylee Taff (12 kills, .400, four blocks) kills switched things right back for Austin Peay and ignited a 5-1 run. It wasn’t so easy to close things out that, as two Murray State points put pressure on Austin Peay before Christina White ended the game at 25-23 with a kill.
That would be one of many for White, who led the match with 20 kills in addition to recording a double-double with 18 digs. She also hit extremely efficiently at a .378 clip to go with a pair of aces.
The third was essentially the antithesis to the second. After a quick 1-1 tie, Murray State pulled in front by a few points and never turned back. The lead would slowly increase before the Racers claimed the set 25-20 and a 2-1 lead.
Following that, play got back to what was seen in the second set with 13 ties and five lead changes. Finally after a 17-17 tie, Austin Peay started to gain some traction with Cecily Gable (11 kills, .259) notching the final two kills for the Governors to force a fifth.
In that winner-take-all set, a trio of two-point flurries exchanged between the sides put Austin Peay in front 4-2. The next six points weren’t symmetrical but they did have the same result as another 4-2 spurt put the Governors ahead 8-4 at the switch. That was extended to 13-7 until Rachel Giustino (13 kills, 22 digs) logged back-to-back kills for Murray State’s last stand. Logan Carger (four kills, .571) put Austin Peay one point away before Taff tacked on her final kill of the match as celebration immediately ensued.
Beyond the previously mentioned athletes, Ginny Gerig (23 digs, four assists) and Kristen Stucker (60 assists, 11 digs, four kills) all had huge matches in the championship match. In the valiant losing effort, Rachel Holthaus (14 kills, .324, 11 digs), Katirah Johnson (14 kills, .355) and Callie Anderson (50 assists, 11 digs, six kills) posted large numbers as well.
Of those big performers, Moore and Stucker were joined by Allie O’Reilly (20 digs) on the OVC Volleyball All-Tournament team along with Holthaus and Anderson for Murray State.
Moving ahead, both of these teams await what is next as Austin Peay will see where the NCAA Tournament has them playing. With 30-wins under their belt, they may even have a chance at facing a first round opponent that isn’t a top-16 seed/host. For Murray State, their season may not be over either as the brand new secondary tournament dubbed the NIVC Tournament, actually fielded interest from both of these teams earlier in the season. With just one senior on the roster, that experience could be a big boon for the Racers heading into 2018.
PRESS RELEASES:
CLARKSVILLE – Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat Murray State in five sets (21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 15-10) to win the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championship, Saturday afternoon in front of a raucous 1,034 fans at the Winfield Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (30-5), which won its third OVC tournament title, claims the OVC’s automatic qualifying spot in the 2017 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship. The NCAA Volleyball Championship Selection Show will be held at 8 p.m. (CT), Sunday, Nov. 26 and will be aired on ESPNU.
The Governors had their hands full with the Racers through the first four sets. Murray State would win the first and third frames but had to hold off late Austin Peay charges in each frame. Meanwhile, the Govs won the second and fourth sets in nerve-rattling fashion, taking a lead for good at 22-21 in the second and at 18-17 in the fourth then holding off the Racers each time.
In the fifth, the teams traded the first four points before the Govs got back-to-back kills from freshman Brooke Moore and junior Kaylee Taff for a 4-2 lead. After another exchange of points, Austin Peay gained control with four straight points as junior Cecily Gable and redshirt junior Christina White posted back-to-back kills in front of back-to-back Racers errors for a 9-4 lead that proved too much for Murray State to overcome. Taff would put down a kill to end the match and secure the tournament title.
White led the Govs with a career-high 20 kills, including five in a match-leveling fourth set victory. Moore, who was named the tournament’s “Most Valuable Player” finished with 15 kills – she posted seven kills and a .700 attack percentage in the final two sets. Taff and Gable added 12 and 11 kills, respectively in the win.
Rachel Holthaus and Katirah Johnson each had 14 kills to lead Murray State. Rachel Guistino and Dacia Brown had 13 and 10 kills each.
A spirited and determined run for the young Murray State Racers ended Saturday with a heartbreaking loss in five sets to the Austin Peay Governors in the championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament in Clarksville, Tennessee.
With only one senior on the roster and 10 underclassmen, the Racers won a season-best seven-straight matches at the end of the season, including two in the tournament, to get to the title game with host Austin Peay. The tremendously entertaining match ended with a final score of 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 21-25, 10-15.
The Racers ended their 2017 season 22-9 overall as they earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament after going 12-4 in OVC play. MSU scored 3-1 victories over Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois to get to the championship match.
With the season on the line, the underdog Racers went out, won the first set 25-21, and ended it with their largest lead of the set with their 25th point. However, the regular season champs came back to claim the second set 25-23 and it proved to me a missed opportunity for the Racers after they led it as late as 20-19.
Murray State dominated the third set 25-20 and never trailed, but couldn’t bring the title home with a fourth set loss by a 25-21 score after they had cut APSU’s lead to 20-19. With the teams alternating the first four sets, the OVC title came down to the fifth set.
In the fifth and deciding set, the Racers never got their attack game in gear and never had the lead. Trailing 3-2, the Racers fell behind 10-5. They fought back, but time was running out and eventually, the Govs won the set 15-10.
For the match, the Racers hit .230 with 66 kills on an even 200 attacks, while APSU hit .278 on 71-of-187.
OVC Freshman of the Year Katirah Johnson led MSU with a .355 hitting percentage while she and Rachel Holthaus shared the team lead with 14 kills each. Rachel Giustino added 13 kills, while Dacia Brown had 10. Becca Fernandez and Giustino led the way each with 22 digs.
Holthaus and Callie Anderton had big showings at the OVC event and each earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
Advancing to their fourth-straight title appearance, the Racers have tons of momentum going into 2018 with this season and the strong run they made at the end. The Racers have won five OVC Tournament championships, which came in 1989, 1992, 2003, 2014 and 2016.
2017 OVC VOLLEYBALL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Allie Hueston, Eastern Illinois
Cassie Knutson, Eastern Kentucky
Rachel Holthaus, Murray State
Callie Anderton, Murray State
Kristen Stucker, Austin Peay
Allie O’Reilly, Austin Peay
Brooke Moore, Austin Peay (MVP)
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