Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
DePaul
Volleyball Shuts Out DePaul 3-0
9/16/2006 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State women's volleyball team continued play at the Memphis Invitational with a 3-0 shutout of DePaul. Game scores were 30-24, 30-19, 30-22.
In the first game, Murray State (7-2) trailed 12-8 before running off three points to pull to within 12-11. DePaul (4-8) got back out to a four-point lead, 16-12, but the Racers battled back to within 16-15. Down 20-17, MSU fought back behind the serving of sophomore Alyssa Groves to tie the game at 20-20. The teams exchanged two sideouts before MSU took its first lead behind the serving of senior Allie Hunt, 23-22. Again exchanging sideouts, Murray State pushed its lead to 25-23, then ran off the last five points of the game behind the serving of freshman Cassie Chesney to win the first game 30-24.
In that game, Groves led Murray State with six kills, while junior Tara DeMage had five, with no errors in 15 attacks. Senior Katie Kemezys had four kills and no errors in seven attacks for the Racers. Sophomore Heather Norris had a game-high 11 digs for MSU. DePaul was led by Morgan Ingersoll, who had nine kills and no errors in 16 attacks. Sarah Cullen had a team-high eight digs for the Blue Demons. MSU hit .286 in Game 1 -- with just five errors in 56 attacks -- while DePaul hit .217, with five errors in 60 attacks.
In the second game, the Racers trailed 7-5 before passing the Blue Demons behind the serving of DeMage to take an 8-7 lead. DePaul retook the lead, 9-8, but MSU came back and reclaimed the lead, 10-9. After exchanging two sideouts, Murray State enhanced its lead behind the serving of Groves to take a 14-11 advantage. MSU increased its lead behind the serving of sophomore Alison Mugler, claiming five straight points to garner a 19-12 lead. The Blue Demons fought to get within 20-15, but DeMage served MSU back to a 23-15 lead. A quick kill by senior Holly Jansen on an overpassed ball bolstered Murray State to run off three straight points to increase its lead to 26-16, then close out the game by a 30-19 score.
In that game, DeMage and Mugler each had four kills for MSU, while Kemezys remained error-free, with two kills in five attacks in Game 2. Jansen rejected three blocks in the second game, while the Racers served up three aces in the second game. Mugler and Norris had six digs each, while Groves had five. DePaul was paced by Ingersoll and Denae Gibson, who had four kills apiece. Stacy Pando and Ellen Hayes had six digs each for the Blue Demons.
In Game 3, Murray State vaulted out to a 6-1 lead, but the Blue Demons battle back to within 8-7. With a 14-12 lead, the Racers pushed out to a 17-12 advantage, but DePaul narrowed it to 21-19. MSU rattled off four straight points behind the serving of Norris, then claimed the match with a 30-22 win in Game 3.
Murray State was led by DeMage, who had 13 kills and an attack percentage of .324 with only two errors in 34 attacks, and Mugler, who had 12 kills and an attack percentage of .355 with only one error in 31 attacks. Kemezys had eight kills with no errors in 17 attacks for a .471 percentage.
Norris had a match-high 23 digs for the Racers, while Groves had 17 and Mugler had 16. Groves served up a match-high three aces, while Mugler had two, and Jansen had a match-high four blocks, while Kemezys had three. Chesney handed out a co-match-high 38 assists for MSU.
DePaul was paced by Ingersoll's 15 kills with an attack percentage of .394, with two errors in 33 attacks. Gibson added 13 kills and an attack percentage of .414, with one error in 29 attacks. Pando had 17 digs to lead the Blue Demons, while Hayes had 16, Emily McGinnis had 13 and Sarah Cullen had 12.
"I was really pleased with the effort we gave today," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "We played hard again, and worked really hard in this match."
Murray State closes out its tour at the Memphis Invitational against Central Arkansas (7-6) at 4:30 p.m.
