Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Southeast Missouri State
Racers Sweep Past Southeast Missouri State in Racer Arena
10/17/2008 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
“I think tonight was about the team putting all the pieces together,” said head coach David Schwepker. “We have the same team we have had all year and I knew that they were powerful and had a lot of things going for them, but we hadn't put it all together before.”
Sophomore Becca Lamb and freshman Logan Su combined for 33 of the Racer's (8-11, 5-4 Ohio Valley Conference) 54 kills in the win, with Lamb tallying a season-best 17 and Su garnering 16. The duo also hit over .400 to help MSU to a season-high .321 (54k-12e-131ta) attack percentage.
“We have been working on hitting the ball hard in practice and not being intimated by the other team's block. That is exactly what Becca Lamb and Logan Su did tonight,” Schwepker said. “I am really proud of both of them for hitting strong all night and for being able to cover themselves when they did get blocked.”
Freshman libero Kayleah Sauer recorded a team-high 18 digs to on the defensive side of the net.
The Redhawks (7-9, 5-4 OVC) opened the first set with a service ace and a block before the Racers mounted a come-back and tied the set for the first of seven times at three. The teams then traded the next 10 points before MSU pulled away with a 4-0 run with the set knotted at eight. The four-point lead was all the Racers needed to earn the victory as they never allowed SEMO to get closer than three points the rest of the set.
Lamb recorded six of her 17 kills in the opening set to set the tone for the rest of the match, while as a team MSU hit .357 (17k-2e-42ta).
The second set started much like the first, with the Redhawks earning an early 2-0 advantage. SEMO pushed its lead to three (5-2) before the Racers started a 5-2 run to tie the set at seven. MSU then earned a lead of its own with 7-1 run to push the advantage to 14-8. The Redhawks did not give up and forced a 19-19 tie after a 5-1 run with the scoreboard reading 18-15 in favor of the Racers. The next two serves were traded before MSU took control for good with a 2-0 run on its way to a 25-22 win.
The second set saw Su show some muscle, garnering seven of her 16 kills on the night.
After the intermission the Racers took early control of the set with a 3-1 advantage and never let the Redhawks get closer than two points (4-2) the rest of the set. With the scoreboard reading 9-7 with the advantage for MSU, the Racers started a 6-0 run with freshman Jade Guo serving to push the lead to eight (15-7). MSU was ahead by as many as 11 in the final set after a 4-0 run late in the set.
The Racers saw strong play from all those in the match, with no player hitting below .000, and three hitting above .300 for the first time in 2008. While no player recorded a double-double the team had two players with nine digs (Mugler and Norris) and one with nine kills ( Sara Hayden).
The Racers took advantage of the largest home crowd of the season when they honored both seniors on the roster before the match for their recent accomplishments. Outside hitter Alison Mugler was honored for her 1,000th career kill (set Oct. 3 at Austin Peay), while libero Heather Norris was honored for taking over the top spot on MSU's all-time career digs list (set Oct. 11 at Jacksonville State).
The Racers will start the second round of OVC action
tomorrow when they host
Notes: Lamb's .400 hitting percentage tied a career
high set against
Quotes
Head Coach David Schwepker
“I am very proud of the team for coming out and doing what I knew they were capable of all along. This is what we needed to boost our confidence.”
