Murray State
Eastern Illinois
Racers drop conference-opener to defending co-champion EIU
9/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team played defending regular-season co-champion Eastern Illinois close in the last two games of their match tonight, but the Panthers proved to be tough on offense, winning 30-23, 30-25, 30-25.
The match was the Ohio Valley Conference-opener for both teams.
Eastern Illinois (5-4, 1-0 OVC) used its two outside hitters, Jessica Ackerman and Kara Sorenson, very well in the match, as they combined for 25 of the Panthers' 54 kills. Ackerman had 15, while Sorenson had 10.
The offense for Murray State (2-6, 0-1 OVC) was led by junior middle blocker Katie Kemezys, who had a match-high 19 kills and made only one attack error in 50 attacks. Kemezys also had a team-high four blocks for MSU.
Freshman setter Ashley Meagher had a double-double with 30 assists and 10 digs in the match. Freshman libero Heather Norris led the defense with 14 digs, while freshman outside hitter Alyssa Groves added 11.
For Eastern Illinois, Maren Crabtree had 25 digs to go with 43 assists. Heather Redenbo added 15 digs, while Aja Kohlbecker had 12. Kera Griffin stopped five blocks for the Panthers.
The match also featured two of the top 10 defensive teams in the nation, as Eastern Illinois is ranked eighth in Division I in digs per game and Murray State is ranked 10th. The Panthers had 72 digs tonight to the Racers' 55.
"We're still making too many errors," said MSU head coach David Schwepker, "but the good news is we can correct our own errors. That's what practice is all about.
"We had a really great crowd here tonight, and that helped us to at least keep it close."
Murray State continues this four-match homestand tomorrow (Saturday) with an OVC tilt against Southeast Missouri State. That match begins at 2 p.m. at Racer Arena.
