Murray State
UT Martin
Volleyball Survives UTM Scare
11/7/2006 6:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
No one could have foreseen the battle royal that Tennessee-Martin brought to Racer Arena tonight, but it took a fortunate turn of events for Murray State to pull out a 3-2 win after staring down match point in Game 4. MSU set a home attendance record tonight with 823 fans, and it was a match well worth watching. Game scores were 27-30, 30-24, 22-30, 31-29, 15-12.
In Game 4, Tennessee-Martin (17-13, 6-9 OVC) led 29-28 with Sarah Jett serving for match point for the Skyhawks. MSU head coach David Schwepker called a timeout, and when the teams returned to action, Jett served the ball into the net to tie the score at 29-29. The Racers (18-7, 10-5 OVC) scored back-to-back points behind the serving of sophomore Alyssa Groves to win Game 4 and force a deciding Game 5.
Murray State won the first point of the fifth game on an attack error by Jett, and Jett was issued a red card by the chair official, awarding the Racers another point. MSU pushed out to a 5-1 lead, but the Skyhawks scored seven of the next 11 points to close the gap to 9-8. MSU scored the next three points behind the serving of freshman Cassie Chesney to get out to a 12-8 lead, and held that lead up to 14-10. UTM scored back-to-back points, but a kill by senior Katie Kemezys capped the match.
"I was watching this match thinking, 'They (UTM) could be the OVC champs," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "They did a really great job tonight.
"I think at the end, we put some pressure on them defensively with our block, and our defense got stronger. They weren't blocking quite as hard as they had before, so that helped us out. Offensively, we took advantage of a few opportunities and crept back in it."
Murray State was led by Kemezys, who had 24 kills and hit .375, with six errors in 48 attacks. Senior Holly Jansen added 22 kills, while Groves had 13 and junior Tara DeMage had 11.
Kemezys had a team-high six blocks, while Jansen and DeMage had four apiece. Groves served up a match-high three aces, while Chesney handed out a match-high 61 assists.
On defense, sophomore Heather Norris repelled 20 digs, while Chesney had 13 and sophomore Alison Mugler had 12.
For Tennessee-Martin, Jamie Hollins had 22 kills and hit .556, with two errors in 36 attacks. Dimphy Sasse had 15 kills and hit .310, while Kathryn Sprague had 11 kills. Megan Hitt hit .583, with eight kills and one error in 12 attacks.
Sprague and Taylor Noland had a match-high eight blocks apiece, while Jett and Shelby Knose had four each. Knose handed out 42 assists, while Morgan Kilpatrick had 22.
On defense, Anna Gautreau had 25 digs, while Knose and Kilpatrick had 11 each.
Murray State closes out its regular-season schedule on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Austin Peay. The Racers will celebrate Parents Day and Senior Day prior to the match. The match will be played in Racer Arena, and admission is free.
