CLARKSVILLE, Tn. - West Georgia falls at Austin Peay in four as Grace Blythe-Cornett sets a new UWG Division I era high for kills. Cornett would end the day with 26 kills and was responsible for 26.5 points.
SET ONE: Austin Peay would open with a 2-1 lead but West Georgia would quickly answer with a 5-0 run courtesy of two Governor errors, a kill a piece from Brooke McCall and Grace Blythe Cornett, and a service ace from UAC leader Giorgia Mandotti, forcing an APSU timeout at 6-2. Right out of the timeout, UWG will find another point off an Austin Peay attack error, 7-2 Wolves. The Governors would punch back with a 3-0 run to cut the UWG lead to two (8-6), but the Wolves would gain the next three off a Valiree Schmus kill and back-to-back service ace, 11-6 UWG lead. West Georgia would find two kills from Melina Cetkovic to take a 14-10 lead before APSU would string together a 5-0 run to take a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. Fresh out of the media timeout, GB Cornett would smack two and McCall would rack up another kill to retake the lead 17-15. The two clubs would swap points with one another before UWG took a two-point lead at 21-19 via two Cornett kills, but Austin Peay would pop back tying things at 23. 25 points would not be enough to decide the set as the set would continue until a Cornett kill and Hannah Nicholson service ace would give UWG the set 30-28.
SET TWO: Opening set two with a 2-0 West Georgia run via a Cornett kill and Cassie Thayse service ace, UWG would take that lead until Austin Peay took the lead with three kills to go up 7-6. A Valiree Schmus kill would give UWG a two-point lead at 12-10. APSU would tally a 3-0 run off two UWG attack errors and a kill from Lauren Wallace to take the two-point lead at the media timeout 15-13. The Wolves would fight back and string a 5-2 run behind two Cornett kills and one apiece from Schmus and Maddy Kirmer to force an APU timeout at 20-19 Gov's lead. UWG would tie things at 20 via a Schmus kill and continue to keep things tied until Brooke McCall smacked one to take the lead 25-25, but one again 25 wouldn't be enough to decide the set. Another monster kill by McCall would give UWG the set point at 26-25, but Austin Peay's Kealynn Ashley put one down to tie things at 26. Back-to-back Governor kills would swap the set point to Austin Peay 27-26. West Georgia would find set point again at 29-28, but Austin Peay would take the set 32-30.
SET THREE: West Georgia would take the first two points off a Cornett kill and a block from Maddy Kirmer and Milena Cetkovic, a Cetkovic kill would give UWG an early 3-1 lead. Austin Peay would fight back and tie things at four, but Austin Peay would have a 6-4 run to go up 10-8. Yet again a kill from Cornett and McCall would tie things up at ten, but APSU would take the next six to go up 16-10. Back-to-back service aces from Hannah Nicholson and a kill from Cornett and two from Schmus would tie the match at 18. Austin Peay would take the next two to re-take the lead 20-18, forcing a UWG timeout. The Governors would take the third set 25-21.
SET FOUR: Grace Blythe-Cornett would open the set with a kill, her 20th of the night to give UWG a 1-0 lead. Austin Peay would take the next four to go up 4-1 and would continue their run and take a 10-4 lead. West Georgia would take a 6-3 run via three GB Cornett kills and another from Cetkovic to cut the Governors lead to three (13-10). UWG would end up on a 7-0 run courtesy of three Schmus kills to give the Wolves the lead 17-14. Austin Peay would then answer with a 5-0 run to retake the lead 19-17. Austin Peay would take set three 25-24.
Notable Numbers: West Georgia as a team hit .400% the first set, the second highest hitting percentage of the season for a set. Grace Blythe-Cornett recorded a career high of 26 kills and was responsible for 26.5 points, setting a new high in the West Georgia Division I era. Valiree Schmus would end her day with 18 kills and four aces. Hannah Nicholson also ended her day with four aces, setting herself a new high. Setter Desha Van Veldhuizen recorded 58 assists to set a new career high, tying the UAC high.
West Georgia's next and last home match is Thursday (Nov. 12) where they will host Little Rock at 6 p.m. for Senior Day!
Tickets for Senior Day can be found here, and as always UWG students get into home matches for FREE with a valid UWG ID!
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