Murray State
Southern Illinois
Racers set home attendance mark, win 12th straight with 3-0 win over SIU
10/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team set a new home attendance mark and extended its school-record win streak to 12 matches and eighth straight shutout with a 3-0 win over visiting Southern Illinois, 30-22, 30-25, 30-21.
The match was deemed "Break the Record Night" in an attempt to break the former attendance record of 616, set against Southeast Missouri State on Nov. 8, 1994. The announced attendance of 651 did just that, witnessing the Racers winning their 12th straight match and 25th straight game. MSU has won 32 of its last 33 games.
Against the Salukis (5-15), junior outside hitter Kimberly Bunnage slammed a match-high 17 kills with only one error for an attack percentage of .500, while freshman outside hitter Lilli Zhan had 14 kills and no errors for an attack percentage of .609. Sophomore outside hitter Paige Sun picked up her 14th double-double of the season in 16 matches, slamming 12 kills and repelling a match-high 15 digs.
Sophomore setter Nikki Wong handed out a match-high 44 assists and added 10 digs and three blocks, while freshman middle blocker Katie Kemezys had a match-high four blocks. The Racers had nine blocks in the match.
"We did really well, and we did something well that we haven't done in a long time: we blocked really well," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "We had three blocks per game, the most we've had in a long time (the season-high is 10 at Middle Tennessee State), and that was a big, big push for us.
"Our passing was good, and our offense is playing really well. There weren't very many stumbling blocks for us.
"The crowd was really awesome tonight," he said. "The band came out, and they were awesome. I'm so glad they all came out to watch this team play, because they deserve it. They were all a part of our win tonight."
For Southern Illinois, Haley Hann had a team-high 12 kills, while Kelly Harman and Erica Miller had 10 digs apiece. Holly Marita handed out 29 assists, while Monica Laird had 12. Carrie Shepherd had a team-high three blocks for the Salukis.
Things don't get easier for the Racers (6-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play) this weekend, as Murray State hosts Eastern Kentucky (5-1 OVC) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Morehead State (5-1 OVC) on Saturday at noon in Racer Arena. The Racers beat both teams 3-0 on the road earlier this season.
"Now, our concentration is on those two teams," Schwepker said. "We go back to conference, and that's the main part of the season. (EKU and Morehead) will come in here ready to play hard. They're battling for first place, and we can expect them to come in here and fight like crazy."
