Murray State
Eastern Illinois
Racers Shut Out Eastern Illinois 3-0
10/14/2006 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team was perfect in its four-match homestand, capping it with a 3-0 shutout over Ohio Valley Conference rival Eastern Illinois. Game scores were 30-27, 30-24, 32-30.
Eastern Illinois showed a tenacious offense, but the Murray State defense -- which has led the nation in defense over the last four weeks -- was able to stay in the match.
In the third game, the Panthers (5-14, 0-8 OVC) led 22-16 and held a 28-23 lead, apparently on their way to a Game 3 win, but the Racers (15-3, 7-1 OVC) fought back, scoring the next five points to tie the game at 28-28. EIU took a 29-28 lead when Caitlin Balsam got a kill, bit MSU tied the game on a kill from sophomore outside hitter Alison Mugler. Eastern Illinois again took a lead, 30-29, when Jessica Wheeler put a kill away, but Murray State closed out the game and the match when senior middle blocker Holly Jansen scored to tie the game, junior outside hitter Tara DeMage got a block to give MSU a 31-30 lead, and Jansen put one away to seal the match.
The win was the fourth straight for Murray State and the ninth in the Racers' last 10 matches. The loss was the 13th straight for the Panthers.
Sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Groves led the MSU offense with 15 kills, hitting .400 with only three errors in 30 attacks. Jansen added 14 kills, while senior middle blocker Katie Kemezys had 12 and DeMage had 10. DeMage also made a match-high five blocks, all solo efforts, while freshman setter Cassie Chesney handed out a match-high 51 assists.
Sophomore libero Heather Norris repelled a match-high 32 digs, giving her an average of 8.50 digs per game this weekend. Sophomore outside hitter Alison Mugler had 18 digs, while Chesney and DeMage had 14 apiece and Groves had 13.
For Eastern Illinois, Wheeler had a match-high 21 kills and an attack percentage of .450, with only three errors in 40 attacks. Balsam added 12 kills for the Panthers.
Eliza Zwettler repelled 23 digs and had a match-high two aces for EIU, while Shaina Boylan had 19 digs and Lauren Schutte had 10. Schutte handed out 41 assists and served up two aces for the Panthers, while Lauren Sopcic had a team-high four blocks.
Murray State is in sole possession of second place in the OVC at 7-1, after first-place Jacksonville State (14-4, 8-0 OVC) shut out Morehead State (16-8, 6-2 OVC) this afternoon. The Racers now begin a four-match road swing, beginning at Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
