Box Score
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Belmont Volleyball's late rally fell short on the road Thursday night. The Bruins (11-10, 6-3 OVC) forced a fourth set but was held off at Austin Peay (20-4, 8-1 OVC), 3-1.
After a close start, Austin Peay was able to build a small lead, capitalizing on BU errors at the top of the first frame. The Govs were able to maintain their three-point advantage only until a pair of kills by senior Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) narrowed the gap, 12-10. However, APSU used an 11-0 run to pull ahead, 22-11, before the Bruins caught a break with a service error. BU briefly showed signs of life behind kills from juniors Alexa Nichols (Walton, Ky.) and Maggie Mullins (Nashville, Tenn.) but the Govs were able to cruise to the 25-15 win.
The Bruins opened the second frame a bit more energy, partially due to the return to senior setter Emma Price (Fort Mill, S.C.). Once again, the Govs pulled away, this time behind a 6-1 run to take an 8-3 lead and continued to surge. Belmont called a timeout, trailing 12-6, in hopes of getting back into an offensive rhythm. Nichols heated up and helped on three block assists and tallied a pair of kills to move the Bruins to within six again, 16-10. Austin Peay blew its lead up to nine points, 19-10. BU called its final timeout of the stanza and came out to put together a 3-0 run to make it a 19-13 frame. However, Austin Peay was able to rebound from the rally and went on to take the set, 25-14.
BU came out of the gate hot to open the third set, using kills from Nichols and freshman Mackenzie LePage (Franklin, Tenn.) plus an ace by junior Haley Sullivan (Lemont, Ill.) to go up, 3-1. Belmont followed with a 4-0 run to take its first major lead of the match, 8-4. The Govs closed the point differential to a single point, 10-9, before the Bruins surged again. A service ace from graduate student Jessica Vestal (Concord, Calif.) was all that the Govs could handle before finally calling timeout, trailing 13-9. The Bruins exploded behind a 6-0 run to take a commanding 21-12 lead, forcing the Govs to call their final timeout. The brief break did little to contain Belmont as it continued to string together runs to take full control of the set, winning 25-13.
APSU came out with a vengeance at the start of the fourth frame, rolling off five consecutive points. Belmont called timeout to regroup from the early deficit. Slowly, the Bruins clawed back into the set, building off a combination of Gov attack errors and kills by Person to knot the score, 6-6. The stalemate was short lived as Austin Peay pulled away behind a 6-1 run to go up, 13-7, forcing BU to burn its final timeout of the set. APSU expanded its lead but the Bruins remained hot on their heels down the stretch, inching to within four points, 21-17. Unfortunately, BU would only be able to eke out two more points as the Govs took the set, 25-19.
Person led all attackers with 17 kills, officially overtaking the second on the program's all-time kills list. Price notched a double-double in her first match back with 23 assists and 12 digs. Senior Ellie Ivancich (Naperville, Ill.) also recorded 12 digs in the effort. Sullivan wrapped the night with a match-high three service aces. LePage tallied a match-high five block assists.
Belmont returns to action on Friday with a contest on the road at Murray State. Match time is set for 7 p.m. Live stats will be available and the matchup can be seen live on the OVC Digital Network. Fans may also follow the team's Twitter account (@BelmontVB) for live, in-game updates.
