SEMIFINAL SCORES
#2 Murray State 3, #3 Morehead State 1 (25-17, 25-27, 25-23, 26-24)
#1 Austin Peay 3, #4 Jacksonville State 1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-15)
MURRAY STATE 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Murray State defeated Morehead State in four sets (25-17, 25-27, 25-23, 26-24) to advance to the finals of the 2018 OVC Volleyball Championship. The Racers also extended their winning streak to 15 straight matches. Murray State will face the winner of the Austin Peay/Jacksonville State match on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT.
The Racers had two players post a double-double in the match. Rachel Holthaus recorded 12 kills and a team-high 14 digs while Rachel Giustino has 12 kills and 13 digs. Dacia Brown posted a match-best 15 kills while Ashley McBeen had 46 assists to go with nine digs. Becca Fernandez finished the match with 14 digs.
Morehaed State was led by Olivia Lohmeier with 15 kills while Jordan Jones finished with 14 kills and Lauren Rokey had 13. Maddie Fella had nine kills and match-high six blocks. Chandler Clark registered a double-double with 51 assists and 12 digs.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Senior Cecily Gable posted a 14-kill, 14-dig double-double effort and Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team overcame an opening-set loss to post a four-set victory (22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-15) against Jacksonville State, in the Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championships semifinal round, Friday night at the Winfield Dunn Center.
For a second straight year, Austin Peay (27-4) advances to the noon, Saturday, championship match where it will again face Murray State. The Racers advanced to the title match with a four-set victory against Morehead State earlier Friday.
Jacksonville State (21-10) broke out of the gate quickly, claiming the opening set thanks to a pair of key runs. After the Govs took a 4-2 lead in the first, the Gamecocks used a 6-2 run to take a 10-6 lead. Austin Peay again charged back and regained the lead at 15-14 thanks to a 5-0 run, but a well-placed JSU timeout halted the momentum and the Gamecocks fought back with a 5-1 run to take a 20-16 lead it would not relinquish.
Austin Peay faced similar jeopardy in the second set as Jacksonville State pieced together a 9-3 run to turn a 14-11 Govs advantage into a 19-17 Gamecocks lead. The teams traded the next six points until junior Haley Turner served up the final four points, including a pair of service aces to tie the match.
The third set was more of the same as JSU again used a 6-2 run to build a 17-15 lead late only to watch the Govs rally down the stretch. Austin Peay pieced together a 9-4 run to get to set point, 24-21, and Gable supplied the set winner two points later for the 2-1 lead.
The fourth set was sapped of any drama early on as the Govs used a 4-0 run that ultimately proved decisive, giving APSU a 5-2 lead. Jacksonville State would close to within a point at 12-11, but back-to-back Gable kills ended the threat as the Govs rolled to the win.
Gable’s 14-kill outing led the Govs but it was key secondary scoring that proved crucial.
Senior Logan Carger provided a 13-kill outing and junior Jenna Panning chipped in 12 kills and four blocks to aid the winning effort.
Sadie Anderson led Jacksonville State with a 17-kill outing and Lena Kindermann added 11 kills.