Murray State
Southern Mississippi
Mugler named to all-tourney team, Racers hope to end current skid
9/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team is still working out the kinks early in the season, falling in all three of its matches at the Western Illinois/Pizza Hut Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
The Racers (2-5) fell to Southern Mississippi 3-1 on Friday, then lost to host Western Illinois 3-1 and IPFW 3-0 on Saturday.
Freshman Alison Mugler was named to the all-tournament team, leading MSU with 3.00 kills per game to go along with 3.50 digs per game and 3.19 points (kills, aces and blocks) per game, second-best on the team. Mugler played in the first two matches of the tournament for Murray State, sitting out the match against IPFW.
Against Southern Mississippi (2-2), freshman Lisa Forchee led the way for the Racers with 13 kills, while Mugler added 11. Freshman Heather Norris had a team-high 10 digs, while junior Katie Kemezys had a team-high four blocks. Freshman Kelsey Hubert handed out 39 assists for MSU.
Against Western Illinois (2-5), Mugler led the Racers with 13 kills and had 24 digs on defense to earna double-double. Junior Holly Jansen added 12 kills, while Kemezys had 10.
Norris had a match-high 31 digs, the most for a Murray State player in a single match since Lindy Northcutt repelled 35 against Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 13, 2002. Freshman Alyssa Groves added 16 digs and freshman Ashley Meagher had 12 to help MSU to a 100-dig match.
Meagher handed out 18 assists for MSU, while Hubert had 17.
In Murray State's final match of the tournament, against IPFW, Meagher earned a double-double with 19 assists and 10 digs. Kemezys led the offense with 15 kills, while Norris had 11 digs.
The Racers will take the next two weeks to prepare for its Ohio Valley Conference season. MSU opens its league schedule at home on Sept. 23 when Murray State hosts Eastern Illinois, which shared last season's OVC regular-season crown.
