Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Clemson
Volleyball Falls To Clemson
8/25/2007 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team jumped on Clemson early in their match in the Mississippi State/Microtel Classic, scoring four of the first five points of the match, but the Tigers pushed back, winning the match 3-0. Game scores were 32-30, 30-20, 30-18.
In Game 1, Murray State (0-3) led 10-8, but Clemson (2-0) scored the next six points to take its first lead of the match. The Racers then went on a run to tie the game at 14-14, and the teams battled back and forth. MSU took a 29-27 lead on a kill by junior outside hitter Alyssa Groves, but the Tigers were able to tie the score at 29-29. The game's 16th and final tie came at 30-30, when Clemson was able to push ahead and win the first game 32-30.
Clemson -- Murray State's strongest non-conference opponent with a 2006 Rating Percentage Index ranked 83rd out of 320 teams -- was able to keep Murray State at arm's length the rest of the way.
Senior outside hitter Tara DeMage led the Racers with 11 kills to go with 10 digs. Groves added 10 kills for MSU. Junior libero Heather Norris repelled 19 digs and served up a co-match-high three aces, while sophomore setter Cassie Chesney handed out 30 assists.
For Clemson, Danielle Hepburn had 14 kills, while Meghan Steiner had 13, Jeannette Abbott had 12 and Leslie Mansfield had 10. Steiner had an attack percentage of .524, with two errors in 21 attacks, while Hepburn hit .423, with three errors in 26 attacks. Hepburn had six blocks for the Tigers, while Steiner had four and Mansfield had three. Kelsey Murphy had three aces for Clemson and handed out 40 assists and had 20 digs to lead the Tigers. Didem Ege had 12 digs, while Abbott and Mansfield had 10 apiece.
"I am very happy with the way we played in the tournament," said Murray State head coach David Schwepker. "We actually played pretty well. We played against some very tough teams with humongous players -- tall players who could really jump, and everybody was just pounding the ball. Our defense is looking very good. We won't lead the nation in digs per game like we did last year, but our defense will be better that it was last year.
"Our players didn't come out of this with their heads down. They came out of this thinking that we have a lot of work to do, but we'll be fine."
For the tournament, DeMage led the Racers with 3.70 kills per game, hitting .310, with 11 errors in 84 attacks. She also served up six aces in MSU's 10 games. Groves averaged 2.50 kills per game, while junior outside hitter Alison Mugler averaged 2.40 kpg and freshman outside hitter Becca Lamb had 2.30 kpg.
Norris averaged 5.60 digs per game and had eight aces over the 10 games. Groves repelled 3.50 digs per game, while Mugler had 3.20 dpg. Chesney averaged 10.50 assists per game and 2.20 digs per game.
The all-tournament team will be announced tomorrow (Sunday), following host Mississippi State's match against Clemson.
Murray State will take part in the ASU/Bancorp South Classic at Jonesboro, Ark., next weekend. The Racers open against host Arkansas State on Friday at 7 p.m., then on Saturday, MSU meets San Jose State at 1:30 p.m. and Northwestern State at 4:30 p.m.
