Murray State University Athletics
Volleyball Opens Season At North Florida
8/30/2006 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Murray State volleyball opens its 24th season at the UNF Labor Day Classic in Jacksonville, Fla., this weekend. The Racers open on Friday against Idaho State, then play host North Florida and Appalachian State on Saturday. Live stats will be provided by North Florida, and are available through a link on the Murray State volleyball schedule Web page.
MSU returns nine players from last year's squad, including five of the six starters. Also returning is sophomore libero Heather Norris, who ranked 17th in the nation with 5.64 digs per game, helping the Racers rank second in the nation in that category.
Senior middle blocker Katie Kemezys bolstered the offense for Murray State last season, averaging 3.53 kills and 1.05 blocks per game. Sophomore outside hitter Alison Mugler also provided a strong game last year, averaging 3.32 kills, 4.58 digs and 0.34 aces per game.
Senior middle blocker Holly Jansen set a school record with nine block assists and finished with an average of 0.88 blocks per game. She also provided 2.46 kills per game. Sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Groves provided strong defense last season with 2.99 digs per game, while sophomore Ashley Meagher had 2.53 digs per game.
Other returnees this season include senior Allie Hunt (0.33 blocks per game last season), senior Julie Lashley (a team-high 0.42 aces per game), junior Victoria Wilson (three kills in eight matches) and Norris.
New to the Racer fold this season are junior outside hitter Tara DeMage, freshman setters Cassie Chesney and Jessica Rydz and freshman outside hitter Leah Rippy.
"The best thing is when you get to this point in the pre-season and you don't have any injuries," said MSU head coach David Schwepker, who is one win away from his 100th win as a Racer coach. "We have minor, little stuff here and there, but nothing major.
"We have improved in our offense. Our ball control and our passing have gotten better than last year, for sure, but our offense is really better. It's a lot faster and more consistent."
Murray State has only played two matches against the field of the UNF Labor Day Classic. The Racers beat Appalachian State 3-0 in the 2003 MTSU Invitational and lost to Idaho State 3-0 in the 1989 WIU Invitational. Saturday's match will be the first between MSU and North Florida.
"I think all the teams will be pretty evenly matched," Schwepker said. "I don't think there's going to be a team that's going to be blown away by anybody. I think it's going to be a pretty even tournament, which is good, because the teams will all have a chance to play. You go and play a Top-10 program, and you get blown away in an hour, and you don't really get a chance to play. I think it will be really good for all of the teams involved.
"In the pre-(conference) season tournaments, we want to make sure that what we're doing the things that we are training them to do here in the gym to get ready for conference play. If they are doing those things, then in these tournaments, we have a chance to see if it is working or not before we start conference."
Murray State will also take part in the Kent State Invitational (Sept. 8-9) and the Memphis Invitational (Sept. 15-16) before opening Ohio Valley Conference play on Sept. 22 at Eastern Illinois.
