CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Jacksonville State came up short Friday night on the road against the reigning Ohio Valley Conference champion Austin Peay, falling three sets to one.
 
The Gamecocks (11-11, 4-5 OVC) struggled early shifting the lineup after the injury bug struck once again this season. The Governors (19-3, 8-1 OVC) capitalized, proving why they begin the second of of the conference season atop the league standings.
 
Redshirt freshman Addie Halverson turned in 16 kills to lead JSU offensively, followed by junior Kaylee Frear with nine. A trio of Gamecocks in Kaylie Milton, Lena Kindermann and Sadie Anderson finished with six kills. Halverson came one dig shy of a double-double after she upped nine attacks. JSU was led along the back row by sophomore Dani Steele's career-best 17 digs. Fellow sophomore Lexie Libs (16) and Jade Humphrey (14) rounded out the Gamecocks with double-digit digs.
 
JSU led early in the first, 6-5, before a 7-0 run by the Govs broke open the first stanza. After APSU led 16-8 midway through, JSU cut the margin back to five at 21-16, but couldn't get any closer. The momentum carried into the second set for APSU where the home team sprinted out to a 13-4 advantage. JSU settled in following a timeout and played point-for-point with the Govs, but were unable to cut into the lead, falling behind two sets to none.
 
In a must-win third, Halverson bookended a big Shayla Schmidt block with a pair of service aces to grab a 10-7 lead and force the Govs to take a timeout. Out of the break, The Gamecocks continued to roll en route to a 25-14 decision.
 
The Govs bounced back in the fourth with a powerful set of their own hitting .382 on their way to a 25-13 win to complete the match.
 
JSU heads up the road to Murray State next for a 2 p.m. match on Saturday. Live stats will be available at JSUGamecockSports.com.