Murray State
West Virginia
Racers beat West Virginia in five, prepare for home-opener vs. UTM
9/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team closed out its tenure at the Bowling Green State Invitational with a tight 3-2 win against West Virginia, 30-22, 26-30, 22-30, 30-26, 15-9. The Racers now prepare for its home- and Ohio Valley Conference-opener on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against defending OVC champion Tennessee-Martin.
The Racers (2-4) tied for first in the tournament with a record of 2-1, equaling the result of Iowa State and host Bowling Green State.
Sophomore outside hitter Paige Sun was named the tournament MVP, averaging 4.31 kills, 3.85 digs and 0.31 aces per game with an attack percentage of .312. Sophomore middle blocker Abbi Gui was also named to the all-tournament team.
In Game 1 against West Virginia, the Racers (2-4) vaulted out to a 14-7 lead and maintained its lead in the 30-22 win. Sophomore setter Nikki Wong had six kills to lead the Racers.
Game 2 began with both teams going nose-to-nose. Murray State broke an 8-8 tie by scoring four straight points, but the Mountaineers (1-8) narrowed the lead to 13-12. MSU forged out to an 18-14 lead before WVU brought it back to take a 20-19 lead. The teams exchanged points down the stretch before West Virginia broke a 24-24 tie with three straight points to take a 27-24 lead. The Mountaineers held on for the 30-26 win. Sun led the MSU offense with six kills in Game 2.
In Game 3, MSU head coach David Schwepker shook up the lineup, bringing in freshman outside hitters Holly Jansen and Julie Lashley to the starting lineup for junior defensive specialist Casandra Ersel and junior outside hitter Kimberly Bunnage. The Racers jumped out to a quick 10-7 lead and pushed it out to 16-12 before West Virginia cut it down to a 20-19 MSU lead. The Racers pushed that lead to 24-19, but WVU went on an 8-2 run to take a 27-26 lead. The Mountaineers closed the game on an 11-3 run for the 30-27 win. Sun led the Racer offense with five kills in the game.
Murray State returned to its original starting lineup for Game 4, and forged a 7-4 lead behind back-to-back aces by Gui. West Virginia battled back and took a 9-7 lead and pushed it to 17-13 before the Racers cut the WVU lead to 17-16 and took a 19-18 lead on a kill by Sun. The Mountaineers scored four straight points to take a 22-19 lead. Back-to-back kills by Gui knotted the game at 25-25, and a kill by Bunnage capped the game at 30-26 to even the match at two games apiece Gui led the Racer attack with six kills in the game.
Game 5 was a seesaw battle, with neither team taking more than a one-point lead until a block by junior middle blocker Danielle Sutterer and freshman outside hitter Lilli Zhan gave MSU an 8-6 lead. The Racers pushed that out to 10-6, and kills by Sun and Zhan increased that lead to 12-6. The teams exchanged points before back-to-back kills by Gui iced the game and the match 15-9.
"We have to give a lot of credit to Nikki Wong," Schwepker said. "She came out as hurt as she was and played through the pain. Our game was down a little bit because she couldn't move like she usually does, but she really made a difference.
"We all played well. All of our hitters came through and stepped it up a notch, like Abbi Gui, Paige Sun and Lilli Zhan. Danielle Sutterer picked it up, too, getting five blocks for us.
"I think everybody is excited to be at home for our OVC match against Tennessee-Martin, he said. "They're excited to be playing in our place in front of our crowd, and we're going to get up and do our thing."
Wong, who injured her ankle prior to Murray State's first match of the tournament yesterday, finished just one dig short of a triple-double, with 14 kills, 48 assists and nine digs.
Murray State was led by a match-high 19 kills apiece from Gui and Sun. Zhan added 15 kills, while Wong had 14. Sun had a match-high 18 digs, while Gui and Bunnage had 11 apiece. Gui served up three aces for MSU, while Sutterer had a match-high five blocks. Sun added two aces and three blocks for the Racers.
