CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (October 7, 2026) – The University of North Alabama volleyball team travels to Clarksville, Tenn. for a matchup against the Austin Peay Governors on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Winfield Dunn Center.
The Lions are set for two straight away matches in conference play, beginning with Austin Peay and followed by a match at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.
The Lions have won their last two matches and the last three out of four. They have started conference play with a 3-1 record, the best conference start since 2024.
The match will be streamed on ESPN+, and live stats will be available through Sidearm.
MATCH INFO
North Alabama at Austin Peay
Thursday, Oct. 8
6 p.m.
Watch | Live Stats
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: North Alabama defeated United Athletic Conference opponent Central Arkansas in four sets to move to 3-1 in conference play and 13-4 overall. Against the Sugar Bears, UNA had 64 kills, 63 assists, 60 digs and hit for .297. Junior Reese Ricketts reached a season high with 23 kills, as did junior Kinslee McGowan with 55 assists. Senior Ava Martindale also reached a season high with 26 digs.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: North Alabama enters the match with a 13-4 record and a 3-1 UAC record. The Lions are leading the UAC with a .257 hitting percentage. They also lead with 13.54 kills per set, 12.70 assists per set, 16.63 digs per set and a .168 opponent hitting percentage.
KILLER QUEENS: North Alabama has four Lions with 100+ kills and three in the top 10 in the UAC for kills per set. Ricketts has 200 kills and leads the conference with an average of 3.64 kills per set. Junior Dylann Garner is second on the team with 167 kills and ranks fourth with 3.09 kills per set. Senior Phoebe Reyes Fortunato has 154 kills, ranking 10th with 2.80 kills per set. Freshman Anna Hoffmayer has 104 kills and ranks fourth in the UAC with a .344 hitting percentage.
DYNAMIC DUO: Kinslee McGowan and Ava Martindale have both won three UAC weekly awards this season, all three coming from the same weeks. McGowan has won three setter of the week awards while Martindale has three defensive player of the week awards. The pair one back-to-back for the first two weeks of the season and again on Monday, Oct. 5. Over the last week, McGowan had 93 assists to average 13.29 assists per set. She also reached a season high of 55 assists against Central Arkansas on Oct. 3. Martindale also reached a season high against Central Arkansas with 26 digs. Last week, she totaled 46 digs to average 6.57 digs per set.
MCGOWAN'S YEAR: Kinslee McGowan steps into year three as North Alabama's top returning setter. Her freshman campaign ended with the setter registering 400 assists to finish second on the team. McGowan contributed 178 digs, 14 kills, 13 service aces and eight blocks. She had a breakout sophomore season, recording 1,164 assists to set the Division I single-season program record in assists and assists per set. She also earned four ASUN Setter of the Week awards in 2025 to break the program record. So far this season, she has 564 assists and leads the conference in assists per set with an average of 10.44. She has also earned three UAC Setter of the Week awards this season and reached a career milestone of 2,000 career assists against Abilene Christian on Sept. 24.
FRESHMAN MAKING HER MARK: Freshman Anna Hoffmayer, the Ocean Springs, Miss. native, has made a difference immediately for the Lions, leading the team with 48 blocks. She also has 104 kills with a .344 hitting percentage, the highest of anyone on the team with 100+ kills.
THE DIG LEADER: Martindale is the Lions' main libero and leads the team in digs with 279 and averages 4.98 per set. In the match against Central Arkansas on Oct. 3, she had 26 digs, marking her season high.
SEASON HIGHS: Reese Ricketts reached her season high after hitting .500 against West Georgia on Sept. 29, recording 12 kills in a three-set win. Against Central Arkansas on Oct. 3, she also reached another season high after recording 23 kills in a four-set win over the Sugar Bears. Kinslee McGowan also reached a season high against Central Arkansas, seeing 55 assists, just four shy of her career high set last season. Ava Martindale set another season high, recording 26 digs against UCA.
SCOUTING THE GOVERNORS: Austin Peay enters the match with a 10-8 record and 2-3 UAC record. The Governors have defeated Little Rock and Tarleton State, and they have lost to Central Arkansas, Abilene Christian and Eastern Kentucky. The team hits .201 and has 837 kills so far this season.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST AUSTIN PEAY: The Lions and Governors were former ASUN opponents together and now represent the UAC. UNA leads with a 10-3 series history with the last meeting being last season on Nov. 8 when the Lions won in a five-set thriller. The two first met in 1982, when the Lions won 2-0 twice that season.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
