Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) beach volleyball will kickoff the inaugural Ohio Valley Conference Beach Volleyball Championship at UT Martin when it plays a 1:00pm, Thursday match against No. 5 seed Jacksonville State at the Skyhawk Beach Volleyball Complex in Martin, Tennessee.
After a slow start to the 2021 campaign, the Governors posted a 5-2 record during the second half of the regular season to earn the No. 4 seed in the OVC’s first-ever beach volleyball postseason.
The winner of the tournament-opening match between the Governors and Gamecocks will play a 5:00pm, Thursday match against top-seeded Chattanooga, while the loser will be back in action at noon, Friday.
In the regular season the APSU Govs were led by First Team All-OVC pairing Jenna Panning and Brooke Moore. Panning and Moore recorded a team-best 11 wins this season, winning five times as the Governors No. 1 pairing and posting a perfect 6-0 mark as the Govs No. 2 pairing. As one of the first Governors to play a full four-year beach volleyball career at Austin Peay State University, Panning is the program’s all-time winningest player with 48 career wins on the sand.
The Second Team All-OVC pairing of Marlayna Bullington and Aysha Hood have won five matches this season and are the only other pairing to man the No. 1 position for the Governors this season. Bullington was also named the OVC’s first ever Freshman of the Year and was selected to be on the OVC All-Freshman team.
Two of APSU’s most reliable tandems this season have been in the No. 4 and No. 5 positions where the duos of MiMi Arrington/Claire Darland and Caroline Waite/Erin Eisenhart have each posted 7-4 records this season. Arrrington and Darland have won twice in the No. 4 position and five times on the No. 5 line, while Waite and Eisenhart have won four times while playing No. 4 and three times while playing as the No. 5 pairing.
In the first round of the tournament, the Governors will square off with Jacksonville State, a team they have split a pair of matches with. Austin Peay State University beat the Gamecocks, 4-2, on April 18, before dropping a 2-3 decision on April 24th. This season the Gamecocks are led by Second Team All-OVC pairing Kayle Milton and Kylee Quigley, who four matches in the No. 1 position this season.
For more information on the OVC Beach Volleyball Championship, visit the OVC Championship’s homepage or check back at LetsGoPeay.com. For scores, news, and schedule updates, follow Austin Peay State University Beach Volleyball on Twitter (@AustinPeayBVB).
