Murray State
Bowling Green State
Racers claim first win of the season with 3-0 shutout of host Bowling Green
9/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team put an end to its season-opening four-match skid with an authoritative 3-0 win over BGSU Invitational host Bowling Green State this afternoon, 30-25, 30-11, 34-32.
The Racers (1-4) opened the match playing toe-to-toe with the homestanding Falcons (5-3). MSU trailed 17-15 before turning on the jets and going on a 12-3 run to take a 26-20 lead that would carry the Racers to a 30-25 Game 1 win.
In Game 2, it was all Murray State, as the Racers opened with a 16-7 lead, then scored the next 11 points to take a 27-7 lead en route to the 30-11 Game 2 win. Junior defensive specialist Casandra Ersel served the Racers to 10 of those 11 points.
In Game 3, Bowling Green State arose after trailing 11-4, going on a 19-8 run to take a 23-19 lead..The Racers battled back, using an 8-3 run to take a brief 27-26 lead, but BGSU scored three straight points to get to game point, 29-27. A Falcon serving error canceled one game point, and a BGSU attack error evened the game at 29-29.
Bowling Green State had three more game points with leads at 30-29, 31-30 and 32-31, but kills from sophomore middle blocker Abbi Gui and sophomore setter Nikki Wong gave MSU a 33-32 lead, and the Racers won the game and the match on a BGSU attack error.
"It feels good to get that first win," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "I am most proud of our team after battling through a five-game match against Iowa State earlier today with Nikki Wong injured (she injured her ankle prior to the ISU match). We still played hard against Iowa State, we lost, but we came in here against Bowling Green and played hard, too. Everybody clicked, and it worked. It was a really good effort by our team."
Murray State was led by sophomore outside hitter Paige Sun, who had a match-high 18 kills and 13 digs. Gui added 16 kills, while freshman outside hitter Lilli Zhan had 11 kills and 15 digs.
Ersel had a match-high 16 digs, while junior outside hitter Kimberly Bunnage had 12. Junior middle blocker Danielle Sutterer had a match-high five blocks, while Zhan had four.
Murray State closes out its play at the Bowling Green Invitational against West Virginia tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:30 a.m. CT. The Racers open their home schedule on Tuesday against defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Tennessee-Martin.
