Richmond, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky volleyball team moved one step closer to a berth in the NCAA Tournament by downing Austin Peay, 3-1, in the semifinals of the 2004 O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The No. 1-seed Colonels (26-4) return to action Monday at 4 p.m. in McBrayer Arena, where they will take on No. 2 Eastern Illinois in the OVC Tournament's title match.

EKU dropped the first game, 31-29, but came out victorious in the next three contests thanks in large part to the efforts of junior Liz Guard, who tallied 19 kills and a career-high 14 blocks in the win (six solos, eight assists). Guard's career night helped the Colonels tally a season-high 22 total team blocks with sophomore Kasha Brozek and freshman Shelly George chipping in seven and five blocks, respectively. George came on in relief and established career highs of seven kills and five blocks in three games work.

Eastern's front line helped avenge last year's OVC Tournament loss to the Lady Govs by holding Austin Peay (15-16) to a .039 hitting percentage (with a .000 combined mark over the final three games). The Colonels hit .198 as a team and posted a .300 mark with 21 kills as they wrapped up the match with a 30-21 game-four win.

Sophomore Kelly Jennings registered 58 assists in the win to move past Cathy Brett (2,824 assists) into first place on EKU's all-time assists list. Jennings, who ranks second in the OVC in assists per game, has recorded 2,859 assists in less than two full years at Eastern.

Eastern came up with 99 digs in the win, led by a career-high 38 from the OVC Defensive Player of the Year, Brittany Nobilio. Senior Lesley Aldridge followed with a 20-dig, 15-kill double-double (her 21st of the year), while sophomore Jessica Sabath and junior Libby Schleisman chipped in 14 and 10 digs, respectively. Nobilio's 38 digs pushed her season total past the previous single-season school record of 577 digs set by Sabath in 2003. Nobilio has now totaled 601 digs in 2004, making her the first player in EKU history to top 600 digs in a season.

The Colonels found themselves playing from behind through much of game one, with APSU building a 22-19 lead. Eastern responded with four unanswered points (including a solo block by Brozek) to go on top 23-22, but the Lady Govs came right back with a quick 3-0 run to retake the lead at 25-23. Eastern played catch-up the rest of the way but fought off game point with a kill by Brozek to even the bout at 29-all before an EKU service error and a kill by Jaimie Thill allowed APSU to take the first game 31-29.

EKU held a 14-10 edge near the midway point of game two before Guard led the Colonels on a 6-0 run to put the contest out of reach. EKU's co-captain sparked the rally with three kills and two blocks to even the match at one game a piece. The Lady Govs came back in the third game and built a 15-10 lead halfway through after a service ace by Julie Burkhalter. But a quick 5-0 spurt by the Colonels (including a kill and a solo block by Guard) brought EKU back to life. With the score tied at 22-all, the Colonels rattled off eight-unanswered points (thanks in part to three APSU errors) to take a 30-22 victory. Miscues by the Lady Govs made the difference in game three, as the visitors committed 12 as a team.

The outcome of the final game was never in question as EKU jumped out to a 10-5 lead (off a kill by Aldridge) and never looked back. Eastern's lead reached 10 points (25-15) moments later when Guard and Brozek combined on a block. Freshman Amy Arlinghaus brought the contest to match point, 29-20, with her 16th kill of the night, before an APSU service error sealed the EKU win.

The Lady Govs received a 14-kill, 16-dig double-double from all-OVC selection Sarah Schramka, while Kristen Kirch led the squad with 24 digs in the losing effort. APSU tallied 10.5 blocks as a team, led by six from Ashley Genslak.

The Colonels will now face Eastern Illinois (25-5) for the tournament championship on Monday at 4 p.m. The two teams shared the OVC's regular-season title after posting identical 15-1 conference marks, but EKU claimed the tournament's top seed by knocking off the Panthers (3-1) on Nov. 6 in Richmond. EIU advanced to the title match by downing Jacksonville State (21-9) in Sunday's other semifinal action. The Colonels will enter Monday's match with a perfect 13-0 record in McBrayer Arena.