Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Louisville
Racers go five with Louisville, but an MSU win not in the Cards, 3-2
9/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team took cross-state rival Louisville to five games, winning two of the first three, but the No. 16 Cardinals were able to hang on and win 3-2 in the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Murray State (0-2) faces No. 29 Texas A&M tomorrow (Sunday) at 10 a.m. CT.
The Racers got things going with a 30-27 win in the first game. MSU opened up with an 8-2 lead early on and held the lead for the rest of the game. Sophomore outside hitter Paige Sun had seven kills in the game.
In Game 2, Louisville (2-3) caught its breath and was able to forge a 30-24 win to even the match. Murray State knotted the game at 22-22, but UL fired off eight of the next 10 points for the win. Sun had five kills in the game, while freshman outside hitter Lilli Zhan had four.
The Racers came roaring back in the third game with a 30-24 win. Louisville took a 17-16 lead, but MSU scored nine of the next 12 points to take a 25-20 lead. Junior outside hitter Kimberly Bunnage closed out the game with an ace. Bunnage led Racer attackers with seven kills in the game and two aces.
Game 4 was dominated by Louisville, which took a 17-10 lead before Murray State scored the next five points to narrow the gap. The Cardinals then fired off three straight points to take a 20-15 lead. The Racers fought back to within 28-24, but UL closed out the game, 30-25. Sophomore middle blocker Abbi Gui led the Racer attack with seven kills in the game.
In Game 5, Louisville jumped out to a 5-3 lead before a UL attack error and a Bunnage kill tied the game at 5-5. The Cardinals rattled off three striaght points before Bunnage halted the string with a kill. MSU was able to pull within a point four times before UL was able to pull away, 15-12.
Murray State was led by Sun's 23 kills and 26 digs. Bunnage added 18 kills and 13 digs, while Gui had 16 kills and Zhan had 13. Gui had a co-match-high four blocks, while Bunnage had three. Sophomore setter Nikki Wong had a match-high 60 assists and 16 digs.
"We talked a lot about the Michigan match," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "We watched the film and saw some things we wanted to change, and we told the players to just go in today and fight, and they did. They did what they are supposed to do, but Louisville's tough; they're No. 16 for a reason.
"Kimberly Bunnage did an outstanding job for us today. She turned it up and played like she can play.
"We came up here knowing we had a good team and came up and played hard," Schwepker said. "These teams we're playing are really good, but our confidence is also really good.
"I'm really impressed with how well we played yesterday in our first match of the season and how this team is handling all the pressure of this level of play. We're a very mature team, although we're very young. We're doing a really good job."
