APSU volleyball traveled to Illinois this past weekend to take on Ohio Valley Conference opponents Eastern Illinois on Friday, Oct. 23 and Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville on Saturday, Oct. 24.
The Lady Govs’ woes continued when they lost both matches 3-1.
The Lady Govs ran into a talented EIU team that has been playing their best as of late. EIU (12-11, 7-2 OVC) jumped all over the Lady Govs (6-18, 1-8 OVC) with 63 kills at a .269 attack percentage. Taylor Smith’s 18-kill, 20-assist, 14-dig, six-block performance paced Eastern Illinois. Smith was one of four players to reach double-digit kill territory for the Panthers.
APSU had a great performance from sophomore Peyton Walker, who came off the bench to lead the Lady Govs with a .269 attack percentage while recording nine kills. She also had three block assists and nine digs.
Senior Samantha Strother posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 10 digs.
After falling to EIU 3-1, APSU traveled the next day to take on SIUE (6-14, 4-6 OVC). Although APSU had a standout performance from freshman Logan Carger, SIUE finished the Lady Govs 3-1.
After rallying to win the first set 26-24, the Lady Govs could not keep up with SIUE. The Lady Cougars won the last three sets by outhitting the Lady Govs with a 66-45 advantage in kills. APSU was able to keep things close with their blocking and serving advantages. The match had 34 ties and 12 lead changes.
Carger had a career day, racking up 12 kills on 19 attempts with no attack errors. She finished the game with .632 attack percentage, the third best performance of a Lady Gov all season.
Second behind Carger was sophomore Kelly Ferguson, who had nine kills and seven blocks.
APSU continues its five game road trip when they head to Cookeville, Tenn. to take on Tennessee Technological University, Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.
