Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Texas A&M
Racers battle No. 29 Texas A&M to 3-1 loss in Michigan tournament
9/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team closed out its tenure at the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge in Ann Arbor Mich., with a 3-1 loss to No. 29 Texas A&M, falling 30-18, 30-22, 27-30, 30-26.
In Game 1, the Aggies (5-1) came out on fire, pushing out to a 9-4 lead, but the Racers (0-3) came back with four straight points to pull to within 9-8. TAMU forged another five-point lead before MSU cut it to 19-16. From that point, the strong-swining Aggies rattled off 10 straight points en route to the 30-18 win. Sophomore middle blocker Abbi Gui and sophomore outside hitter Paige Sun had four kills each in Game 1 to lead the Racers.
In Game 2, it was the Racers who started out strong, jumping out to an 8-4 lead, but Texas A&M maintained its strong offense, going on a 10-3 run to take a 14-11 lead. Murray State cut the deficit to 16-15, but the Aggies then went on an 11-4 run down the stretch to bolster the 30-22 win. Sun had four kills to lead MSU.
In Game 3, Murray State trailed 6-5 before rattling off three straight points to take an 8-5 lead. The Racers pushed out to a 14-9 lead and led 24-20 before TAMU fired off five straight to take a 25-24 lead. MSU was able to close out the game on a kill by Sun to win Game 3 30-27. Sun and freshman outside hitter Lilli Zhan led the Racer attack in Game 3 with four kills apiece.
In Game 4, Texas A&M went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-3 lead and led 13-5 before the Racers ran off five straight points to cut the deficit to 13-10. MSU narrowed the gap further to a 16-15 deficit, and the teams exchanged points before the Aggies scored three straight to take a 22-18 lead and held on for the 30-26 win.
"Despite the outcome, we had a good weekend," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "We were able to see some things that we need to work on and change before the conference season begins. We want to keep fine-tuning until we have a strong machine running."
Murray State was led by Gui and Sun with 14 kills each. Junior outside hitter Kimberly Bunnage added nine kills, while sophomore setter Nikki Wong had eight. Gui was involved with three for the Racers' five blocks, while Bunnage served up a co-match-high three aces. Wong handed out 38 assists to lead MSU.
Murray State will take part in the Bowling Green State Invitational on Sept. 12-13, opening against Iowa Statea on Sept. 12 at 12:30 p.m. CT before facing host Bowling Green State later that day at 5 p.m. CT.
