For the second consecutive season, the APSU volleyball team has won the Ohio Valley Conference Crown.
The win adds more hardware to a program that has raked in a number of individual and team accolades over the few seasons.
Adding to the prestige, the Govs will host the OVC Volleyball Championship tournament for the second year. In 2017, APSU defeated rivals Mu**ay State across three sets to earn the OVC Championship and a berth in the NCAA national tournament.
In the Govs clinching weekend, they swept SIU Edwardsville 3-0 and defeated the Panthers of Eastern Illinois by a 3-1 scoreline to cement their first place nod.
Standing out amongst the Govs lineup was senior setter Kristen Stucker, who’s final regular season performances saw her be awarded an unprecedented 21st OVC Setter of the Week honor.
Stucker earned the accolade seven times throughout her senior year.
The senior from Johnston, Iowa, dished out 41 assists in the sweep of the Cougars while improving to 48 assists in the four-set bout with EIU.
Brooke Moore totaled 15 kills in three sets with SIUE while she was complimented by 10 kills from Kaylee Taff and Jenna Panning and Cecily Gable eight kills apiece.
The Cougars struggled to finish on the ball while posting an abysmal 14 points in the closing set.
Hope Everett lashed out eight kills in three sets to lead the home squad. Coming behind Everett, Kiana Fields and Rachel McDonald matched each other with seven kills apiece. Closely behind, Gabby Wimes notched six kills on the day.
The Govs flexed their muscles throughout the match with four service aces on the Friday night outing.
Ginny Gerig recorded two of her own while Haley Turner and Moore notched one each.
Taff secured the victory with a third-set kill off a Stucker assist.
In the Govs later affair of the weekend, Gable led the offensive charge with 21 kills while Taff and Moore hit double digits with 12 and 10 respectively.
Six different Govs got involved on the support side by recording an assist.
Stucker’s outstanding 48-assist outing was complimented by five from Moore, three from Gerig, two from Taff and Turner and Gable producing one assist each.
Moore and Gerig got involved on the defensive side of things with 21 and 20 digs respectively. Fifteen digs from Stucker helped the Govs dominate their final weekend of regular season play.
APSU will host Tennessee State in the OVC Quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 15.
In the regular season, the Govs escaped Nashville with a 3-1 win over the Tennessee State Tigers for a fourth consecutive victory over TSU.
