Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eastern Illinois
Volleyball Moves Into Tie For Second With Win Over EIU
11/6/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team moved into a three-way tie for second place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a 3-0 win over visiting Eastern Illinois tonight. Game scores were 30-24, 30-16, 30-24.
The Racers (16-12, 13-5 OVC) are tied with Jacksonville State (16-9, 13-5 OVC) and Southeast Missouri (18-11, 13-5 OVC) both of whom were idle tonight. All three teams are two matches behind OVC leader Morehead State (21-9, 15-3 OVC), which clinched no worse than a tie for first with a win tonight at Eastern Kentucky. The top seed will host the six-team OVC Championship Tournament on Nov. 16-18, with the top two seeds getting first-round byes. The top five teams, including fifth-place Tennessee State (15-13, 12-6 OVC), have all clinched berths into the post-season tournament. Samford (14-13, 9-9 OVC) and Tennessee Tech (15-14, 9-9 OVC) are tied for that all-important sixth spot.
"We worked on our blocking game yesterday," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "We did a nice job today on the block, with eight blocks."
Against Eastern Illinois (1-17, 4-15 OVC), Murray State scored the first three points of Game 1 behind the serving of junior libero Heather Norris. The Racers were able to nickel-and-dime the Panthers throughout the game, adding a point here and there before winning it 30-24.
In Game 2, EIU took an early 2-1 lead before Murray State ran off six straight points behind the serving of senior middle hitter Tara DeMage. In DeMage's next turn at the serve, the Racers ran off seven straight points, going from an 18-12 lead to a 25-12 lead, en route to the 30-16 second-game win.
In the third game, it was Norris's serve that held sway, as the Racers ran off the first four points of the game behind her followed by a five -point run later in the game en route to the 30-24 Game 3 win.
DeMage had team-highs with 13 kills, hitting .345, 22 digs and a co-match-high two aces. Junior outside hitters Alison Mugler and Alyssa Groves had 11 kills each, while freshman outside hitter Becca Lamb had six kills and no errors in 17 attacks, hitting .353. Norris had 19 digs for MSU, while Mugler and Groves had 12 apiece, and Groves had a match-high four blocks, while Mugler and freshman middle hitter Sara Hayden had three each. Sophomore setter Cassie Chesney handed out a match-high 42 assists, while Hayden had two aces.
Eastern Illinois was paced by eight kills by Alex Zwettler, while Kelsey Orr had seven. Eliza Zwettler had a match-high 24 digs, while Jessica Wheeler had 13 and Alex Zwettler had 10. Lauren Schutte handed out 24 assists, while Jorie Dieter had three blocks and Wheeler served up two aces.
Murray State closes out its regular-season schedule with home matches this weekend. The Racers host Tennessee State on Friday at 7 p.m. for its annual Parents Day, and will end the schedule on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Tennessee Tech, when MSU honors its senior, Tara DeMage, playing her final match in Racer Arena.
