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MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit Friday night to beat Austin Peay 3-2 (20-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-4) in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament at Wetherby Gym.
It marked the first time Morehead State (26-7) rallied from a 2-0 disadvantage to win a match since Sept. 5, 2009 against Kent State. Austin Peay ended its season at 13-22.
"Tonight's win really shows the character and determination of this team," Head Coach Jaime Gordon said. "I knew coming out of the locker room between sets two and three that something special was about to happen and it did. We have been doing this all season. Our crowd was incredible tonight too. Hats off to them for helping us rally."
Morehead State will now play in its fifth consecutive OVC title match. The Eagles will face No. 7 SIU Edwardsville, who eliminated sixth-seeded Eastern Kentucky earlier in the day, at 7 p.m. ET Saturday.
After the Lady Govs converted 25 kills with just eight errors in the first two sets, the Morehead State defense forced their foe into 27 attack mistakes in the final three. MSU pulled away with the final-set win with six kills and no errors.
The match featured 23 ties and 13 lead changes.
Senior outside hitter Aryn Bohannon topped the Eagles with 17 kills and also added 13 digs. Junior right-side hitter Alex Fitzmorris compiled 10 kills and four blocks, while senior libero Leslie Schellhaas topped all players with 29 digs. She needs just 14 more to set the MSU career digs record held by Kristina Schoo.
Freshman setter Bailey Nichol made her second career start and responded with a match-best 47 assists to go along with seven digs and three blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Smith chipped in 16 digs.
Austin Peay middle hitter Lauren Henderson led all players with 18 kills while hitting .324. She also had six blocks as the Lady Govs notched 14 team blocks. Jada Stotts had a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs, and libero Syd Litchfield tallied a team-high 19 digs.
Morehead State never trailed in the fourth set, racing out to a 6-2 advantage before APSU later tied it at 13. The Lady Govs trimmed MSU's lead to 21-20, but the hosts scored four of the last five.
Austin Peay grabbed an early 2-1 lead in final frame, but MSU forced the Lady Govs into six attack errors to score eight straight points and grab the momentum.
Morehead State finished with advantages in kills (54-53) and digs (79-74) and held the Lady Govs to .099 hitting.
