Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Tennessee State
Volleyball Wins Seventh Straight, Shuts Out OVC Co-Leader TSU
10/6/2007 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team continued its win streak, notching its seventh in a row with a 3-0 shutout win at OVC co-leader Tennessee State, halting a five-match win streak by the Lady Tigers. The win brought the Racers into a three-way tie for second place in the Ohio Valley Conference at 7-2, just a half-match behind current league leader Jacksonville State.
Both teams played outstanding defense, repelling hard-kit attacks and chasing down shanked digs, keeping the ball in play. Murray State had 63 kills to Tennessee State's 41, and the Racers hit .264 to TSU's .204.
Murray State (10-8, 7-2 OVC) came charging out of the gate, hitting .465 in Game 1, making only two attack errors in 43 attacks. When Tennessee State (9-9, 7-2 OVC) pulled within 6-4, the Racers scored three straight points behind the serving of junior outside hitter Alyssa Groves, then pushed the lead further to 15-8. MSU led 21-13 before the Lady Tigers mounted a comeback of their own. Behind the serving of Kamille King, TSU scored three straight points to pull to within 21-16. Leading 22-17, the Racers scored five straight points, including a kill by junior outside hitter Alison Mugler, back-to-back kills by freshman middle hitter Sara Hayden, a block by Hayden and Groves and a kill by Groves, pushing out to a 28-18 advantage en route to the 30-20 first-game win.
In the second game, the battle was even closer. Senior defensive specialist Ashley Meagher served up four points for Murray State, including an ace, to give the Racers their first lead of the game at 8-5. Tennessee State pulled to within 18-16 behind the serving of Molly Davis before the Racers scored four unanswered points behind Groves to get out to a 22-17 lead. TSU's Christian Lowe served the Lady Tigers to pull to within 22-20, and Candace Saleauma helped Tennessee State tie the score at 23-23. Murray State closed out the game by winning seven of the last nine points, taking the second game 30-25.
In Game 3, Tennessee State fought hard, taking the lead three times. With the Lady Tigers leading 12-11, Murray State scored four unanswered points behind the service of junior libero Heather Norris to take the lead for good. TSU pulled to within 19-17, but a kill by freshman outside hitter Becca Lamb gave the Racers a sideout, and a kill by senior middle hitter Tara DeMage and another blast by Lamb gave the Racers a 22-17 advantage. The teams exchanged sideouts, with MSU leading 26-21, before the Lady Tigers mounted one last surge, scoring three points behind the serving of Collese Dornan to pull to within 26-24. Two points behind the serving of Meagher gave MSU a 28-24 lead, but TSU scored two more behind Kelly Davis to close to within 28-26. A TSU error got Murray State to match point, and an ace served up by Groves punctuated the win for the Racers.
"Our girls played really hard," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "They just went after everything. They tried to get a hand on every single ball. We did a good job offensively, too; all our hitters did well. This was a really big win for us."
Murray State was led by Mugler, who had 15 kills and hit .286, with five errors in 35 attacks. DeMage added 13 kills, while Lamb and Groves had 12 kills apiece. Sophomore setter Cassie Chesney handed out a match-high 54 assists, while Mugler served up two aces.
On defense, Norris repelled a match-high 17 digs, while Mugler had 14, DeMage had 13 and Chesney had 10.
Tennessee State was paced by 13 kills by Dornan, who hit .273, with four errors in 33 attacks. Davis hit .364, with eight kills and no errors in 22 attacks. Saleaumua handed out 29 assists for the Lady Tigers, while Dornan served up two aces.
On defense, King and Davis had 14 digs apiece, while Saleaumua had 13 and Melissa Silva had 10. Lowe and Endia Oliver had a match-high four blocks each, while Saleaumua had three.
Murray State steps out of OVC play when the Racers visit Lipscomb for the teams' first-ever volleyball meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
OVC ROUND-UP
Murray State and Tennessee State are tied with Morehead State (13-7, 7-2 OVC) for second place after Jacksonville State (10-5, 7-1 OVC) won 3-1 at Morehead this afternoon. Tennessee Tech (11-9, 5-4 OVC) moved into a tie for fifth place with idle Southeast Missouri State (9-10, 5-4 OVC) after beating Tennessee-Martin (8-11, 2-7 OVC) today. Samford (8-9, 3-5 OVC)held onto seventh place in the standings despite losing at Eastern Kentucky (2-17, 1-8 OVC), which halted a 13-match losing skid. Austin Peay (7-13, 2-6 OVC) and Eastern Illinois (9-9, 2-7 OVC) were also idle today.
