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RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentuckyhas concluded the non-conference portion of its 2011 volleyball schedule and will begin Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend at home.  Matches against Austin Peay on Friday and Tennessee State on Saturday will be the Colonels’ first at McBrayer Arena this season.

Friday’s match against the Lady Govs will start at 7 p.m.  Saturday’s tilt against the Tigers is scheduled for 2 p.m.

EKU finished non-conference play with a 5-6 record.  Among those victories is a win over South Florida of the Big East Conference.  Eastern is coming off of a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Troy last Saturday.

Troy cruised to a 25-11 victory in the first set.  Eastern Kentucky tied the match by winning the second set 25-20, but the Trojans answered with a 25-20 victory in the third for a 2-1 lead.  EKU tied the match with an “overtime” 27-25 win in the fourth set and then completed the comeback by winning the decisive fifth set 15-9.

Sophomore Ashley Edmond finished with a match-best 22 kills to go along with a team-high 26 digs and four block assists.  Freshman Hannah Burkle had 12 kills and five blocks.  Senior Hannah Groudle had a match-high seven blocks.  Freshman Abbey Cvelbar finished with a match-high 45 assists and earned all-tournament honors.

Edmond leads the team with 130 kills.  Her average of 3.17 per set ranks fifth best in the OVC. Burkle is second on the team with 111 kills and leads the team with 30 total blocks. Cvelbar leads the team with 370 assists and ranks seventh in the OVC with 8.22 per set.

Austin Peay enters Friday’s match with a 2-9 record.  The Lady Govs have wins over Alabama State and East Tennessee, but have lost four straight.  Nikki Doyle leads the APSU offense with 139 kills.  She ranks third in the OVC with 3.56 kills per set.

Tennessee State enters the weekend with a 4-3 record.  The Tigers will play at Morehead State on Friday night.  TSU has wins over South Carolina State, Loyola-Maryland, Norfolk State and Mercer.  Tennessee State has lost its past two matches – 3-1 to Troy and 3-0 at Western Kentucky.

Shaquita Williams leads the Tigers and ranks second in the OVC with 3.68 kills per set.  She leads the conference with a .333 attack percentage.