RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University opens play in the 1999 Ohio Valley Conference volleyball tournament this weekend in Cape Girardeau, MO, at Southeast Missouri State University as the Colonels meet Austin Peay State University in the opening game of the six-team tourney at 10 a.m. Friday.

At the end of the 1999 regular season, EKU finished in sixth place in the OVC with its 8-10 mark inside conference play and 13-18 overall record. EKU's opponent, Austin Peay, closed '99 at 21-10 overall and 13-5 in the OVC, good enough for third place.

Last weekend, Eastern finished the regular season, splitting its home matches. EKU defeated Tennessee State (15-2, 15-3, 15-2) last Friday, before falling to Austin Peay (15-7, 13-15,13-15,12-15) Saturday.

Leading the charge for EKU was freshman outside hitter Becky Galati of Pittsburgh, PA, who was named OVC Freshman of the Week for her efforts against Morehead State Tuesday night and Austin Peay and Tennessee State this past weekend. She recorded season highs in kills (23) and digs (25) in the four-game set vs. Austin Peay. For the week, she averaged 3.73 kills, 4.91 digs and 0.73 blocks per game.

EKU head coach Lori Duncan said, "Austin Peay is our first match in the tournament and is a team that is used to beating Eastern. They swept us in 1997, '98 and '99. However, we, as a team, are merging together and are ready to fight for this one."

Duncan has a positive outlook on her team's first-round matchup with APSU.

"It is so hard to beat a team three times in one season. Austin Peay will have to do just that to advance in the tournament. This is one of the things that we as a team have working to our advantage. Along with this, if we play smart and play hard, we will ultimately play well. I feel that this team has every ability to make it to the championship match - and that's a great thing!," she said.

Should Eastern advance, its semifinal match against second-seeded Eastern Illinois would be Friday at 4:00 p.m. The OVC championship match is scheduled for noon Saturday.