Austin Peay got a game-high 15 kills from Jessica Mollman to lead the Lady Govs over ETSU 3-1 (20-25, 23-25, 25-19, 21-25), Friday night at the ETSU Volleyball Classic presented by Holiday Inn.Mollman turned in the 15 kills on 25 attempts for a solid .440 hitting percentage on the night. Austin Peay outhit ETSU .215-.189 for the match. Austin Peay is now 7-1 on the season after the win, while ETSU falls to 4-4.

Erin Ryan (Davie, Fla.) led the Bucs offensively as she recorded 14 kills on the night. Freshman Megan Devine (Kingsport, Tenn.) finished the night with a double-double as she recorded 10 kills and 13 digs. Kiley Tamblyn (Torrance, Calif.) led the Bucs with 20 digs to go along with six assists. Whitney Cogburn (Kingsport, Tenn.) had a solid all-around night with 35 assists, eight kills and seven digs.

After Austin Peay won the first two very tightly contested sets, ETSU came back strong in the third set to extend the match. The Bucs got out to a big 19-10 lead thanks to back-to-back kills from senior Lauren Baufield (Plymouth, Minn.). ETSU closed out the set with a kill from Alysa Long (Romulus, Mich.) to give the Bucs the 25-19 victory.

With the Lady Govs up 20-16 in the fourth set, ETSU got two straight kills from Ryan and a kill from Cogburn to pull the Bucs within one at 20-19. However, that was as close as the Bucs would get as Austin Peay would extend the lead back out and ultimately earn the victory.

UNC Greensboro earned the other victory of the night as they knocked off UNC Asheville 3-1 in the opening match of the Buccaneer Classic.

The ETSU Volleyball Buccaneer Classic presented by Holiday Inn will continue tomorrow with matches all day long beginning at 10 a.m.

The Bucs will take on UNC Greensboro at 12:30 before playing the final match of the event against UNC Asheville at 7 p.m.

Author