The Lady Govs’ volleyball would travel to Nashville twice this past week to finish up their road schedule against Belmont and Tennessee State. The Lady Govs would split the decisions, still retaining their second place position in the Ohio Valley Conference West division.
APSU’s first match came on Tuesday, Oct. 23, against Belmont. The Lady Govs would start off strong, winning the first set, 25-22, after going on a 12-4 run to finish the off the set, but that was the only set APSU would win, falling 21-25, 24-26, 16-25 in the next three.
Senior Nikki Doyle led the team with 20 kills, her fourth consecutive 20-point game. The Lady Govs would bounce back a few days later when they were back in Nashville to take on Tennessee State on Saturday, Oct. 27. The roles were reversed in this game compared to the Belmont match.
APSU would start sluggish, falling in the first set 21-25, but would regain their form they had previous to their short two-game losing streak, taking the next three sets 25-15, 25-22, 27-25 to take the match and earn another big OVC win against a strong TSU team.
Doyle would not accomplish a fifth-straight game with 20 kills, but it was a team effort that led the Lady Govs to victory, with Doyle recording 14 kills and sophomores Jada Stotts and Hillary Plybon recording 14 and 12 kills respectively.
The weeks split would leave APSU with a 14-14, 7-5 in OVC play. APSU will be repaid for playing their first 15 games on the road by finishing with their final four at home. The Lady Govs will take on UT Martin on Friday, Nov. 2 before the big showdown against first place in the OVC West, Southeast Missouri, on Saturday, Nov. 3.
