Murray State University Athletics
Volleyball Resumes OVC Play At APSU
9/28/2007 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team resumes play on Saturday after a week-long layoff, visiting Austin Peay at 2 p.m. The match can be seen live through video streaming at www.OVCsports,tv, and Live Stats will be made available by APSU. Links for both online services can be found at the volleyball schedule page at www.GoRacers.com.
The Racers will conclude a four-match road swing on Saturday at Austin Peay, having won the previous three matches by scores of 3-0 at Tennessee-Martin, at Southeast Missouri State and at Eastern Illinois. Murray State will return home for a Tuesday match against Southeast Missouri State before a weekend road swing at Tennessee Tech (Friday, 7 p.m.) and at Tennessee State (Saturday, 2 p.m.).
Murray State (6-8, 3-2 OVC) finds itself tied for fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings after Friday night's action. The Racers are tied with Samford (8-6, 3-2 OVC), which lost at home to Tennessee State (6-8, 4-1 OVC) on Friday, while Southeast Missouri State (7-9, 3-3 OVC) fell a half-match behind the Racers with a 3-0 home loss to OVC co-leader Morehead State (11-5, 5-0 OVC). The other OVC co-leader, Jacksonville State (8-4, 5-0 OVC), shut out Tennessee Tech (8-8, 2-3 OVC), while Eastern Illinois (8-7, 1-5 OVC) blanked Eastern Kentucky (1-14, 0-5 OVC). Austin Peay (7-10, 2-3 OVC) beat Tennessee-Martin (7-9, 1-5 OVC) in Clarksville 3-1.
Other OVC matches on Saturday include third-place Tennessee visiting Jacksonville State, Eastern Kentucky at Southeast Missouri State, Morehead State at Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech at Samford. All matches begin at 2 p.m.
OVC LEADERS
For the second straight week, Murray State leads the OVC with 20.22 digs per game, ranking fifth in the nation. The Racers led the nation in digs per game last season.
Murray State ranks third in the conference in kills per game (15.12) and assists per game (13.94).
Sophomore setter Cassie Chesney leads the conference with 12.67 assists per game, her second straight week atop the OVC assists list. She ranks 26th nationally. Junior libero Heather Norris -- last week's OVC Defensive Player of the Week -- moved up to third in the league with 5.61 digs per game (23rd nationally), and is fifth in aces with 0.43 per game. Junior outside hitter Alison Mugler is seventh in the OVC with 3.61 kills per game and ninth in the league with 3.96 points per game.
MIDWEST REGION RANKINGS
After ranking 29th for the last two weeks in the RKPI Midwest Region Rankings, Murray State has moved up to 18th in the 43-team region. The rankings are based on the Rich Kern Percentage Index, a formula that approximates the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index (RPI). Jacksonville State is ranked fifth in the region, while Morehead State is 12th and Tennessee Tech is 14th. The Midwest Region includes the Ohio Valley Conference, Conference USA, The Horizon League and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
