Murray State
Illinois
Racers ousted by No. 15 Illinois in first round of NCAA Tournament
12/5/2003 2:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team made its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, but No. 15 seed Illinois didn't prove to be overly cordial hosts, sweeping the Racers 3-0 in Champaign tonight, 30-19, 30-27, 30-20.
Illinois (25-6) will play Louisville (25-5) tomorrow at 7 p.m. to see who advances to the regional in Honolulu, Hawai'i on Dec. 12-13. Louisville beat Notre Dame (23-7) 3-0 in the first match in Champaign today.
The Racers (18-12) got off to a slow start in Game 1, as the Illini jumped out to a 13-7 lead. MSU was able to pull to within 20-16, but UI used a 5-0 run late to push ahead for the 30-19 win.
In Game 2, Murray State played more like it had all season, exchanging points for most of the game, with neither team getting more than a two-point lead. The Racers had a 25-24 lead until the Illini used a quick three-point run to forge ahead and claim the 30-27 win.
In Game 3, the game seesawed early, but Illinois used a 7-0 run to take a 17-8 lead en route to the 30-20 win, clinching the match.
Sophomore outside hitter Paige Sun and freshman outside hitter Lilli Zhan led the Racer offense with 10 kills each. while sophomore setter Nikki Wong had seven.
Wong had a team-high 25 assists, while Zhan had a team-high nine digs. Junior outside hitter Kimberly Bunnage added eight digs, while junior defensive specialist Casandra Ersel had seven.
Illinois was paced by 15 kills from Lisa Argabright, who had no errors in 25 attacks for a .600 attack percentage. Shelly O'Bryan added 11 kills with no errors in 20 attacks for a .550 percentage.
Erin Virtue handed out 44 assists, while Lauren Harks repelled 12 digs. Argabright had a match-high eight blocks, while Jessica Belter had five.
Illinois's middle blockers controlled most of the match, holding the Racers to a .105 team attack percentage, the lowest of the season. The Illini hit .330 and had 12 blocks to MSU's three.
"Our plan was to take their middles out of the game," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "They were able to get things going, though; we knew that Illinois uses their middles a lot.
"We knew what to expect. We knew they hit the ball hard, we knew that they use their middles well. The atmosphere here for volleyball is great; it's incredible. It's not so hot if you're the visiting team, but it is great. In the second game, we started to stay in the match and compete, and the crowd got into it even more. We usually hit better than we hit today, but we don't always hit against players who are 6-5, 6-6.
"We have everyone coming back next year," Schwepker said, "and our players work very well together."
"We pretty much had a season full of adversity," said Ersel, "but that brought us closer together as a team. We wouldn't be here if we didn't work well together."
Murray State ends the 2003 season at 18-12. The Racers earned a berth into the NCAA Championship Tournament as the conference tournament champion.
