» By Daniel Newton
The APSU volleyball team stayed busy last week, competing in five matches in five days as they took on Lipscomb on Tuesday, Sept. 4, in Nashville and competed in the Bama Bash tournament hosted by Alabama University in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Friday, Sept. 7 and Saturday, Sept. 8.
The Lady Govs had an impressive week, winning three of the five matches, including three out of four in the Bama Bash.
The Lady Govs started the week slow, falling to Lipscomb 3-0. The Lady Govs competed hard, losing sets with scores of 22-25, 15-25 and 22-25, but were unable to pull out a set in the hard-fought match.
Head coach, Taylor Mott, knew going into the tournament APSU’s defense and blocking would play a large factor in the Lady Gov’s success during the Bama Bash, and they would answer the call.
The Lady Govs dominated most of the tournament, winning three of their matches, defeating East Tennessee State, Lamar and Alabama State, 3-0. Their only loss in the tournament came to host Alabama, 3-1.
ETSU came into the Lady Gov’s opening game boasting a 9-2 record, but were shut down by the Lady Govs, only keeping it competitive in one set as APSU took the match 25-9, 25-10, 26-24.
ETSU had 27 kills, but committed 22 errors for an .048 attack percentage, allowing the Lady Gov’s to cruise to victory.
In their next game, APSU held their own against host Alabama, who came into the match with an impressive 7-1 record. The Lady Gov’s kept it close, losing in sets of 23-25, 21-25, 25-14, 22-25.
Despite the loss, APSU had players come up big in the match, highlighted by sophomore outside hitter Jada Stotts, who recorded a career-high 27 kills, good for eighth-best in a single game in APSU history.
The Lady Govs would coast in their final two matches in the tournament, defeating Lamar, in sets of 25-9, 25-23, 25-16. Lamar came into the game with a record of 7-5, but stood little resistance to the Govs, skills. They set the mood early, recording seven service aces in the first set, five by junior middle blocker, Lauren Henderson.
Alabama State was the next victim of APSU, falling to the Govs in straight sets, 25-8, 25-18, 25-15. Alabama State came into the game 0-10, and the Lady Govs made sure not to take it easy on the struggling competition.
The Lady Govs were able to coast to dominating wins behind the strong play of Stotts and senior outside hitter, Nikki Doyle, who both came up big in the matches.
The Lady Govs were very impressive in the tournament, taking second place out of five teams, their only loss being to host and tournament champions, Alabama. Jada Stotts and sophomore middle setter, Cami Fields, were named to the all-tournament team.
Stotts scored 57 kills in four tournament matches and posted a .347 attack percentage. Fields finished with 140 assists (10.77 assists per set) and the Lady Govs posted a .312 team attack percentage behind her setting performance.
The week helped propel the Lady Gov’s record to 5-9 after the tournament, as they were able to defeat two teams with winning records.
The Lady Govs will have a week off after traveling to Murfreesboro Tuesday, Sept. 11, before taking on Jacksonville State in their first home game after 15 games away from home, on Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.
