Murray State
Jacksonville State
Volleyball Falls To OVC Leader Jacksonville State
11/4/2006 6:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team battled Ohio Valley Conference leader Jacksonville State tooth-and-nail this afternoon in Racer Arena, but the Gamecock offense was able to overcome the Racers 3-0. Game scores were 30-26, 31-19, 30-22.
Jacksonville State (20-4, 14-0 OVC) maintained its streak of OVC shutouts, having blanked every league opponent it has faced so far. MSU's 77 points scored today was the second-most scored against JSU in conference play this season.
"They are the best team in the conference, and they showed it," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "They were really strong; they came at you from everywhere.
"I was very happy with the way our team played. We played hard today. This is not a loss to get mad at. We did play hard and stayed with them. Everybody played well for us today."
In the first game, Murray State (17-7, 9-5 OVC) got out toa 10-6 lead before Jacksonville State whittled it down to 11-10. The Racers led 17-15 before the Gamecocks scored four straight points to take a 19-17 lead. MSU pushed back to take a 22-20 lead, but JSU scored four straight points to take a 24-22 lead. Murray State tied the game at 24-24 and closed to within 27-26 before Jacksonville State scored three straight points to win the game 30-26.
In the second game, Murray State trailed 20-17 before chipping away at the Gamecocks' lead, scoring seven of the next nine points, including four straight behind the serving of sophomore Heather Norris, to take a 24-22 lead. The teams exchanged sideouts, with MSU taking a 28-26 lead, but JSU scored five of the next six points to win the second game 31-29.
In the third game, JSU vaulted out to a 15-9 lead and was able to keep the Racers at arm's length for the 30-22 win.
Murray State was led by senior Holly Jansen, who had a co-match-high 18 kills. Senior middle blocker Katie Kemezys had 10 kills and a team-high three blocks for the Racers.
Norris and sophomore outside hitter Alison Mugler repelled a team-high 19 digs apiece, while freshman setter Cassie Chesney had 15 and senior outside hitter Julie Lashley added 14. Chesney handed out 40 assists for MSU.
Jacksonville State was paced by Abbey Breit, who had 18 kills and hit .375, with three errors in 40 attacks. Rebekah Nichols added 11 kills, while Brittney Whitten had 10. Shari Weyer hit .316, with six kills and no errors in 19 attacks.
Nichols had a match-high six blocks, while Weyer had four and Breit had three. Emily Withers had 21 digs, while Jessica Starck had 17, Breit had 11 and Whitten had 10. Withers handed out 41 assists for JSU.
Murray State continues this regular-season-ending homestand on Tuesday at 7 p.m. with a match against Tennessee-Martin. That match will be played in Racer Arena, and admission is free.
