By DAVID SCHERER | Staff Writer

With two dominating performances this past weekend, the Lady Govs volleyball team got back on track and started back down the path towards OVC glory. Both matches consisted of three-set sweeps, capped by an absolutely dominating final set victory 25-10.

In the first match of the weekend, APSU downed Southeast Missouri fairly easily (25-13, 25-16, 25-18). It marked the third time this season the Lady Govs notched 50 kills, and only committed seven errors to finish with a season best .364 attack percentage.

In the first set, the Lady Govs was able to jump out to a 19-8 lead and never looked back. Sophmore Nikki Doyle led the Lady Govs with eight kills and maintained her blistering pace this season.

SEMO pushed back in the second set and showed they were not just going to go away quietly leading 13-11 at the midway point of the set, but the Lady Govs utilized an 8-0 run to take a 19-13 lead. Junior Ilyanna Hernandez and senior Jessica Mollman pushed the team with a pair of service aces and a pair of kills respectively.

According to APSU Sports Information, Lady Govs head coach Haley Janicek believed composure was key to the victory.

“We really did a good job maintaining our composure throughout the match tonight. In previous matches we have fallen back a little when we had a lead. We didn’t retreat much tonight —we were able to stay in our system and stick with our fundamentals so it was a more consistent match overall.”

The Lady Govs led throughout the third set, using a pair of six point runs to complete the sweep. Doyle led the team with a match-best 16 kills and committed no errors for a .410 attack percentage.

Janicek told APSU Sports Information she believes Doyle has really stepped up this year.

“Nikki is doing some really good things. This really is her first year playing significant time at the collegiate level. She’s come in and she’s really doing a good job.”

The second match of the weekend versus Eastern Illinois had a much different atmosphere.

The Lady Govs got off to a very slow start in the first two sets and had to claw their way back into the thick of things.

EIU got out to a 6-3 lead but APSU used a 7-2 run to regain the advantage, one that they would not be able to keep. Both teams traded the lead until the Lady Govs used kills by Mollman and Doyle to capture the 26-24 set win.

The second set was more of the same, with the Lady Govs coming from behind again but able to recapture the lead and win 25-20. The third set was prototypical APSU volleyball with the Lady Govs cruising from the beginning and finishing with the 25-10 victory. According to APSU sports Information Janicek believed their composure was key to the victory in the first two sets of the match.

“I believe what happened in the first two sets is we were playing behind. I have to give credit to our team they really were able to hold their composure.”

“It’s not very often teams can come back from that especially when you’re playing a tough, scrappy team,” Janicek said.

The Lady Govs return to action this Friday, Oct. 8 with a 7 p.m. OVC match against Tennessee State. TAS

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