Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Arkansas-Little Rock
Volleyball Falls To UALR 3-1
8/24/2007 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team won the first game of its 2007 season, and battled Arkansas-Little Rock throughout the match, but could not push past UALR, which won the match 3-1 in the opening match of the Mississippi State/Microtel Challenge. Game scores were 21-30, 30-28, 30-25, 30-24.
"It wasn't bad for our first outing," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "We won the first game, and the second game and the third game were close. In the fourth game, we didn't give up, but Arkansas-Little Rock had gained some momentum, and we played a little tentatively."
Senior outside hitter Tara DeMage had a co-match-high 17 kills, hitting .382 with 34 attacks, making only four attack errors. Junior outside hitter Alison Muger had 11 kills for the Racers, while freshman middle hitter Sara Hayden had 10.
Junior libero Heather Norris -- who earned AVCA All-American Honorable Mention honors last season -- repelled a match-high 20 digs, while junior outside hitter Alyssa Groves had 16 and Mugler had 14.
Sophomore setter Cassie Chesney handed out a match-high 47 assists for the Racers, while Norris had a match-high three aces.
"Tara DeMage played really well," Schwepker said. "She did a lot for us, hitting-wise. She looked like she can really step in and fill the spot left by Katie Kemezys (Murray State's top hitter last season)."
For Arkansas-Little Rock, Amila Barakovic had 17 kills, while Ivanka Davidova and Melissa Soares had 12 apiece. Amy Hafner had a team-high 16 digs, while Linka Melicharkova had 14 and Barakovic and Marina Marinova had 11 each. Davidova had nine blocks for the Trojans, while Barakovic had five and Katie McCutcheon had four.
Murray State takes on tournament host Mississippi State tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 a.m., then closes out its tourney slate against Clemson at 4 p.m.
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