Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Northwestern State
Volleyball Takes 3-2 Win Over Northwestern State
9/1/2007 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team won the first two games of its match against Northwestern State in the ASU/Bancorp South Classic, but the Lady Demons fought back, winning the next two games and forcing a deciding Game 5. In that game, junior outside hitter Alyssa Groves had three kills, including the match-winning point as the Racers won 3-2. Game scores were 30-14, 30-22, 26-30, 28-30, 15-8.
Murray State won two of its three matches at the ASU/Bancorp Classic to improve to 2-4.
In the first game against Northwestern State (1-2), the Racers took a quick 5-1 lead that ballooned to an 18-7 advantage en route to the 30-14 win. Murray State had an attack percentage of .500, with 20 kills and only three errors in 34 attacks, holding NSU to a minus-.138 percentage, with six kills and 10 errors in 29 attacks.
In the second game, the Lady Demons opened with a 3-0 lead, but MSU scored the next four points and never ceded the lead after that. Northwestern State was able to get within 21-20, but the Racers scored nine of the next 11 points for the 30-22 win.
In the third game, NSU jumped out to an 8-1 lead and took advantage of 12 Murray State errors in the game to arrive at game point at 29-19. The Lady Demons had seven game points, but the Racers scored seven straight points behind the serving of senior middle hitter Tara DeMage before finally winning the game 30-26.
In Game 4, Northwestern State again took a lead, getting as much as a six-point lead at 15-9 and 23-17. Murray State scored four straight points to pull to within 23-21, then scored four of the next six points to get within 26-25. The Lady Demons scored two points, but MSU countered with the next two points to stay within 28-27. NSU scored another to get to game point, but a kill from freshman middle hitter Sara Hayden brought MSU back to within 29-28. NSU's Ariane Damasio scored to put the game away at 30-28.
In the fifth and deciding game, the teams battled until Northwestern State got within 5-4. From that point, Murray State scored three straight points behind the serving of junior outside hitter Alison Mugler to push out to an 8-4 lead. Northwestern State scored two straight points, but MSU scored the next three to maintain an 11-6 lead. After an NSU sideout, the Racers scored four of the next five points to win the game 15-8 and take the match, three games to two.
"They are more athletics than we were, but we were able to find a way to win," said MSU head coach David Schwepker. "In the fifth game, we got out to a good lead and played tough, and we were able to hang on for the win."
Mugler led the Racer offense with a team season-high 21 kills and an attack percentage of .368, with only seven errors in 38 attacks. Hayden added a season-high 16 kills, while Groves had a season-high 15 and DeMage had 11.
Mugler, DeMage and sophomore setter Cassie Chesney each notched their third double-doubles of the season. Mugler had 11 digs to go with her 21 kills, while DeMage had 14 digs with her 11 kills. Chesney handed out a season-high 67 assists and had a season-high 13 digs.
Junior libero Heather Norris repelled a season-high 24 digs and served up a co-match-high three aces. Freshman outside hitter Ashley Nenninger -- playing in her first match of the season -- and freshman outside hitter Becca Lamb each had six kills for MSU, and senior libero/setter Ashley Meagher had five digs.
For Northwestern State, Yelena Enwere had a team-high 17 kills, while Damasio and Talita Santos had 11 apiece and Markie Robichau had 10. Robichau hit .304, with three errors in 23 attacks. Megan Dockery handed out 43 assists, had 22 digs and three aces, while Megan Manning had 13 digs and Janel Fisher-Thurston had 11. Enwere had a match-high seven blocks, while Santos had six and Damasio had four.
Murray State will take part in its third tournament of the season next weekend, as the Racers take part in the Saluki Invitational at Carbondale, Ill. Murray State will open against Missouri-Kansas City on Friday at 5 p.m., then faces Cleveland State on Saturday at 10 a.m. and tournament host Southern Illinois on Saturday at 7 p.m.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: Outside hitter Alison Mugler and setter Cassie Chesney made the ASU/Bancorp South Classic all-tournament team. Mugler averaged 3.75 kills and 2.17 digs per game and hit .303 for the tournament, while Chesney handed out 12.17 assists per game and had 3.00 digs per game.
"Alison had a really good weekend -- a great weekend," MSU head coach David Schwepker said, "and Cassie did a really good job for us."
