The All State

By Anthony Shingler | Assistant Sports Editor

The Lady Govs volleyball team remained undefeated in Ohio Valley Conference play with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-18) win at Eastern Illinois, Saturday, Sept. 26, at Lantz Arena.

The Lady Govs, who are riding a four match-winning streak improve to 9-4, 3-0 OVC, while Eastern Illinois drops to 7-10, 1-4 OVC.

The Lady Govs are in three-way tie for first place with Jacksonville State and Morehead State.

During the first set, there were eight lead changes and 13 ties in the first 38 points of the opening frame.

With a tie at 19-19, the Lady Govs scored in succession from Kirstin Distler and an error from Eastern Illinois to jump out to a 21-19 lead.

The Lady Govs built a 24-20 lead on a pair of kills from Stephanie Champine. They would win the set 25-21. The second set was a replica of the first set, exchanging leads six times and tying the score 14 times.

The Lady Govs would not get a lead of more than three during the set. Eastern Illinois used two errors made by the Lady Govs to cut the lead 22-21. Ilyanna Hernandez led a 4-1 run by the Lady Govs to win the second set, 25-23.

The Lady Govs scored the first seven points in the third set to lead 7-0. Kills from Champine, Taylor Skinner and Jessica Mollman helped support the Lady Govs offense.

Eastern Illinois hacked at the Lady Govs lead, narrowing the score down to 17-15. The Lady Govs would go on a 8-3 run to close the match out 25-18 to win their third conference match.

“Today’s match was a good example of doing whatever it takes to win,” according to Lady Govs head coach Mike Johnson’s post game interview with Sports Information.

“Our serve receive was very good and our outside hitters were excellent. Champine and Hernandez both put up some big numbers.”

The Lady Govs were lead by Stephanie Champine’s 20 kills. It was her second 20-kill effort this season.

Also, Hernandez chipped in 10 kills, and Skinner helped out the cause with seven kills. The Lady Govs converted for 44 kills in the victory.

The Lady Govs continue OVC action Friday, Oct. 2, for a three-match home stint with a 7 p.m. tipoff against Tennessee Tech.

By Anthony Shingler | Assistant Sports Editor

Early mistakes doomed APSU in the 30-20 loss to No. 24 Eastern Illinois Saturday, Sept. 26, in the Ohio Valley Conference home opener at Governor Stadium.

With the win, Eastern Illinois is off to a 4-0 overall start, 2-0 in the conference, their best since 1996. Conversely, APSU falls to 1-3, 0-1 OVC. APSU is 8-29 in conference openers.

“We didn’t come out and play the first half, and it was the same thing from last week,” said APSU head coach Rick Christophel.

In the first quarter, APSU had one punt blocked and a 10-yard punt downed at the APSU 29-yard-line. Taking advantage of great field position, the Panthers led 21-0 before APSU could get any offense brewing or even record a first down.

After an Eastern Illinois three and out that forced a punt, APSU took over with 7:16 left in the first half at their own 32-yard line. The Govs marched the ball down the field 68 yards on eight plays to get on the scoreboard. Terrance Holt jolted from 13 yards out to cut lead 21-7 for one of his two touchdowns on the night. Eastern Illinois tacked on a field goal to take a 24-7 lead at half.

“Our offense put our defense in some bad situations, I thought our defense played pretty decent from the first quarter on,” Christophel said.

The Govs defense turned up the heat by holding Eastern Illinois to a three and out again in the second half. The Govs went on the field with a seven play, 48 yard drive. Holt’s second score of the night cut the lead to 10, 24-14.

“The first half and second half were two different ball games,” Christophel said.

The Panthers added a field goal to make the score 27-14 in the fourth quarter. After a fumble by Gary Orr, the Panthers marched down the field and made another field goal to push their lead to 30-14.

“At times he played pretty well. Other times he didn’t do what he needed to do and that put us in a bind,” Christophel said.

“It was 24-14 I think and we have the ball going in on the 40 yard line, and boom boom boom we make three mistakes.”

The Govs got the ball back with one minute left in the contest. They added success by a score on an Orr three-yard toss and catch to Scott Thomas to cut the lead to 30-20. The Govs failed on the two-point conversion.

“He was (finding his rhythm) and that’s why I kept going with him because he was throwing the ball in the right places on those crucial drives,” Christophel said.

The Govs attempted an onside kick, but did not recover it.

The Govs produced 251 yards offense. The Panthers averaged 425 yards in the previous three games. However, against the Govs they were held to 243 yards of total offense.

“There’s no reason we can’t play like that every game,” Christophel said.

“You’re going to make some mistakes, but play hard and play aggressive.”

By Anthony Shingler | Assistant Sports Editor

The Lady Govs volleyball team opened up the OVC regular season schedule the same way they ended it last year–with a victory over Tennessee State Lady Tigers, 3-1, (25-11, 19-25, 25-12, 25-20) Friday, Sept. 18, at the Dunn Center.

The Lady Govs (7-4, 1-0 OVC) left a lasting impression on the home crowd by dominating the first set in the match. After a 5-5 tie, the Lady Govs scored six of the next eight points to take an 11-7 lead. The Lady Tigers would not find an answer to the Lady Govs offense.

OVC Player of the Week Stephanie Champine added her four kills and Jessica Mollman chipped three in the first set, which led to the win by the Lady Govs 25-11.

Tennessee State (1-10, 0-1 OVC) would respond to the Lady Govs’ offensive flurry and provide a spark in the second set. The Lady Tigers used 13 kills, their best effort offensively the entire match, to win the second set.

The Lady Govs showed why they are so dominant by recording 13 kills, five aces, and 22 digs for their 25-12 slaughtering in the third set.

Ilyanna Hernandez and Mollman had five kills each in the set to push the Lady Govs lead to 2-1. Senior Kristin Distler scored three aces on serves.

“I thought first, third, and fourth games our effort was excellent, it takes a certain bit of maturity to be at our very best despite our opponent,” said Lady Govs head coach Mike Williams. “We were really good overall and the third and fourth games were excellent.”

Tennessee State kept the fourth and last set close, but could not find an answer to 16 kills that gave the Lady Govs for their first OVC conference win this season 25-20.

Champine lead the charge with six kills. Champine showed why she is so dangerous, contributing 16 kills and 17 digs, her seventh straight double-digit kill performance this season.

“We have to get better at understanding on what happens on our side of the net, and it really doesn’t matter what happens on their side of the net,” Williams said.

The Lady Govs go on the road for a two-match conference road swing, beginning with a Friday, Sept. 25, contest at Southeast Missouri. They then travel to face Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill. Saturday, Sept. 26.

By Anthony Shingler | Assistant Sports Editor

The APSU football team traveled to play against Illinois State, and dropped a 38-7 contest Saturday, Sept. 19, at Hancock Stadium in the final non-conference game.

It was the second straight loss by APSU on the road to a Missouri Valley Football Conference team. Last week APSU dropped a 38-21 tilt at Youngstown State.

Illinois State held the APSU offense at almost a standstill with only 109 yards of total offense (14 rushing and 95 passing). The Govs also gave away four interceptions.

APSU played all three quarterbacks on the depth chart with little success. Even an interception by Zac Burkhart in the third quarter could not spark some production.

“Something’s got to be done (at the quarterback position). We’ve got to be consistent. We haven’t had that at quarterback this season,” said head coach Rick Christophel during his post-game interview, according to APSU Sports Information. “Even against Newberry, it wasn’t consistent. The question is, do you take the guy with more experience or do you go with youth. I have to make the decision.”

Illinois State’s running back Cliffton Gordon had a field day, scoring four touchdowns on 17 carries for 96 yards.

Illinois State quarterback Matt Brown went off offensively, putting up 205 yards on 24 completions out of 33 attempts with one touchdown and one interception. He completed passes to nine different receivers.

“We made some mistakes. To be honest with you, it was one of the most embarrassing displays we’ve had since I’ve been at Austin Peay,” Christophel said. “It all falls back on me. We made it way too easy for them.”

The only score the Govs produced was from Ryan White who rushed for 13 carries 40 yards and one touchdown.

Gary Orr, who came in for Trent Caffee, was the most successful quarterback fielded by the Govs. He completed 8 of 17 passing attempts for 95 yards with four interceptions.

“In Gary’s defense, there were a couple of routes that were broken off and a couple of drops that made it look a little worse than it really was,” Christophel said.

“He also had two interceptions off of tipped balls. We have to go back and do better preparation-wise.”

Despite six turnovers, the Govs defense held Illinois State to only 17 points off turnovers. Sophomore safety Amius Smith led the defense with nine tackles.

APSU will return home to face Ohio Valley Conference opponent Eastern Illinois Saturday, Sept. 26 with a 6 p.m. kickoff.  The Govs will then travel to Tennessee Tech Saturday, Oct.

By Anthony Shingler | Assistant Sports Editor

The battered and bruised Lady Govs, who put on a come-from-behind effort, fell short dropping a 4-3 contest at Chattanooga, on Sunday, Sept 20. The Lady Govs fell to 1-7-1, while Chattanooga Lady Mocs remain undefeated at 5-0 overall.

The Lady Govs open the Ohio Valley Conference Friday, Sept. 25. They have not put up any points on the scoreboard since the home-opener against Cumberland University, 2-0.

With the team suffering from a laundry list of injuries, Head Coach Kelley Guth had available 13 of the 23 players on the official roster.

Junior Kellie Cannon broke open the scoring drought scoring two goals in the match, with two games after returning from what was thought to be a season-ending contusion on her liver.

Cannon scored the first goal of the contest in the 10th minute off her own rebound, giving the Lady Govs an early lead.  Chattanooga showed why they are undefeated by crossing the ball into the 20 yard box, and Donna-Key Henry found the back of the net in the 33rd minute to tie the score 1-1 going into halftime.

The second half opened  with a quick goal from Chattanooga’s Kelly Downs, scoring at 45:59 point to take an early lead.

Chattanooga would extend the lead by netting two goals in a 15-minute span, pushing the lead to 4-1 with a half an hour left in the match.

“We had a breakdown in the second half, but we showed some resiliency in fighting our way back. Being able to come out and battle like we did was good to see. That’s the kind of effort we need to be showing every day,” Guth said, according to Sports Information.

The Lady Govs kept the pressure on Chattanooga, scoring off a deflection from Samantha Northrup in the 76th minute to cut the lead to 4-2.

The Lady Govs kept the pressure on Chattanooga in the offensive third of the field, forcing a penalty kick that resulted in Cannon’s second goal to cut the finish the match at 4-3.

“We’re not happy with the result,” Guth said. “We still have a really short bench and to have Kellie back is great because we thought we had lost her for the season. It was good to be able to generate some scoring opportunities.”

“We still have to address the breakdowns in our defensive, but today we saw that if we just go after it, good things will happen,” Guth said.

The Lady Govs return to Morgan Brothers Field Friday, Sept. 25, to hosting Ohio Valley Conference rival Morehead State with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

By Anthony Shingler | Assistant Sports Editor

While the APSU Govs football team battled Youngstown, Ohio, freshman Mike Williams was fighting a different battle against the NCAA, for reinstatement of his eligibility to play college football.

“I really enjoy the game, and I am not looking to go to the NFL,“ Mike Williams said.

“I just love to compete and it is what I want to do.”

Williams, a 36-year-old father of four, started his education at Cameron University in August of 1995. While he was enrolled, Cameron University did not field a football program.

As a result of personal choices at the time to leave school, he went into the military, went through a divorce and he lost custody of his son.

“At the time I had a lot of trouble my senior year of high school, so I went into the military after high school,” Williams said.

“I went to Cameron, and I was planning on going back into the military as an officer, but that never panned out.”

When asked why he wants to play football now he said, “I just miss it. I enjoy the game, I am in good shape, fit and looking for the opportunity to play,” Williams said.

“I have played ever since the second grade until my senior year of high school and I just miss it.”

As an employee of the Foy Fitness and Recreation Center, he works out daily to stay in shape physically so if he is granted eligibility he can step in and compete for playing time.

When asked what position he intends to go out for if given eligibility, Williams said, “I played tight end and middle linebacker in high school, so I will play whatever [the coaches] need me to [play].”

As Williams works toward his degree in special education, his intentions are to coach football and become a special education teacher in Tennessee.

Williams has the GPA is required by NCAA rules, and his grades during his period at Cameron University are covered by APSU CARE (Credentials Analysis and Re-Evaluation) policy.

Williams is working on his eligibility appeal by himself; he plans to send it to the NCAA by the end of the week if it is complete. If the request does not succeed, he said, “I will appeal it if it is turned down.”

– Anthony Shingler, Assistant Sports Editor