Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
South Alabama
Racers open season with pair of shutout losses in tournament
9/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The theme surrounding Murray State's Helping Hands Classic Tournament is donating food and items of need to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, but the opposition was less than charitable, as Murray State lost to Youngstown State and South Alabama by scores of 3-0.
The matches were both closely battled, and there were positives to be had in the double-round-robin tournament.
The Racers fell to Youngstown State 30-21, 30-28, 30-27, but junior Katie Kemezys slapped a match-high 22 kills while committing only four attack errors. She was also one of four Racers with two blocks. Junior Holly Jansen added 12 kills for MSU.
Freshman Alison Mugler led all defenders with 17 digs, while freshman Heather Norris had 16 and freshman Alyssa Groves had 11. Mugler, Groves and Jansen each had two blocks. Freshman Ashley Meagher handed out 21 assists, while freshman Kelsey Hubert added 20. Groves and Meagher each served up two aces for the Racers.
The Racers had 44 kills to the Penguins' 38.
Youngstown State (3-2) was paced by 10 kills from Cari Leslie. Katie Shea had a match-high eight blocks, while Amanda Cindric had three aces. Cindric and Angie Pasquinelli each had 16 digs, while Pasquinelli had 32 assists.
In Murray State's second match of the day, a much-improved South Alabama squad -- which had won only three matches for the entire 2004 season -- has already matched that by winning its third straight match to open the season. USA beat the Racers 30-19, 30-25, 30-20.
Kemezys again led the Murray State offense with 12 kills and had a team-high two blocks. Norris had a match-high 14 digs, while junior Julie Lashley served up a team-high two aces. Hubert handed out a match-high 23 assists.
For South Alabama (3-0), Jenna Swilley had 16 kills, while she and Whitney Sanders had five blocks apiece. Katie Wilhelm had 19 assists, while Jade Nuss had 12. Shannon VanAntwep had 12 digs and Sanders had 10, while Sanders had three aces for the Jaguars.
Earlier in the tournament, South Alabama beat Youngstown State 3-0.
The three teams will play each other one more time tomorrow (Saturday) to conclude the tournament, held in Racer Arena. South Alabama takes on Youngstown State at 10 a.m., while the host Racers play the Jaguars at 1 p.m., then meets Youngstown State at 4 p.m.
Fans and concerned citizens are invited to bring non-perishable foods, especially canned foods, toiletries, baby items, water and other needed items for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Marked boxes are set up in the bleachers of the north end zone of Racer Arena for these items.
