Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
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Mississippi State
Volleyball Battles Mississippi State In 3-0 Loss
8/25/2007 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team kept things close at Mississippi State, taking leads in all three games, but the homestanding Bulldogs were able to fend off the Racers 3-0 in the Mississippi State/Microtel Classic. Game scores were 30-27, 30-25, 33-31.
In Game 1, Murray State (0-2) took a 19-14 lead, but saw Mississippi State (1-0) go on an 11-3 run to take a 25-22 lead en route to the 30-27 win. In Game 2, the Racers trailed 23-14 before making an 8-2 run of their own to pull to within 25-22, but were unable to push any further, as the Bulldogs took the second game 30-25. In the third game, Murray State led 17-14 before Mississippi State went on a 7-2 run to take a 21-19 lead. Later in the game, the Racers trailed 26-23 before making their run, scoring four of the next five points to tie the game at 27-27. The game seesawed from there before Murray State took a 31-30 lead, but the Bulldogs scored the next three points to take the match with a 33-31 Game 3 win.
Freshman outside hitter Becca Lamb led the Racers with 10 kills. Senior outside hitter Tara DeMage and junior outside hitter Alison Mugler each had nine kills.
Junior libero Heather Norris repelled a match-high 17 digs, while junior outside hitter Alyssa Groves had 12. DeMage served up a match-high four aces, while Norris had two. Sophomore setter Cassie Chesney handed out a team-high 28 assists for Murray State.
Mississippi State was paced by 15 kills from Cristina Jucan, while Ioana Demian added 10 kills and had a match-high five blocks. Ashley Newcome added four blocks, while Jucan, Lauren Kowal and Erin Seago each had three blocks. Megan Lukasek had a team-high 14 digs, while Dorey Gray had a match-high 40 assists.
Murray State will play its final match of the tournament this afternoon (Saturday) at 4 p.m. against Clemson. This will be the first meeting between the two teams in volleyball.
