Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Jacksonville State
Racers Down Jacksonville State on Senior Night
11/14/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
“Whenever we have our senior night it is always an emotional match,” said head coach David Schwepker. “No matter who we play it is hard for the seniors to calm down after the ceremony and everyone wants to do so well that they try too hard and that is how we lost that first set.”
MSU was led by sophomores Sara Hayden, Becca Lamb, and Ashley Nenninger. Hayden tallied a .524 hitting percentage on a team-high 13 kills, two errors and 21 total attempts. Lamb added 13 kills, while Nenninger tallied 12 kills, a .400 (12k-3e-25ta) hitting percentage, and three total blocks.
“Sara and Ashley did great in the middle tonight,” said Schwepker. “They both came up with some really big hits tonight when we need them.”
Defensively freshman Kayleah Sauer led the Racers with 19 digs, while Norris added 11. Prior to the match Norris needed just two digs to claim the No. 3 spot on the OVC All-Time Digs list from Cherelle Lampkins from Morehead State. The
“Alison and Heather played really strong on Senior Night,” said Schwepker. “Heather played very well defensively and barely missed any balls that we hit back to her. Alison does a lot of things that don't always get recognized in the stats, but came up with a lot of big plays that helped us win.”
MSU opened the first set with a 3-1 run, but then allowed the Gamecocks (9-18, 5-12 OVC) to tie the set at four with the first of eight service aces in the match. The score would remain close for most of the set, with no team leading by more than three points before becoming knotted again. JSU broke the final tie (14-14) with a 4-0 run to take an 18-15 advantage. The three-point lead was all that the Gamecocks needed the rest of the set, as they held on to win 25-20.
The Racers again earned an early lead (2-0) in the second set before JSU tied the score at two. The teams then traded the next two serves before Mugler started a 3-0 run with a kill and then went back to the service line to give MSU a 5-3 advantage. The closest that the Gamecocks could get the rest of the set was 5-6, as the Racers kept pushing and extended their lead to as many as 11 points on their way to a 25-14 win.
The third set saw JSU push out to a 4-2 advantage before a kill from freshman Jade Guo sparked a 4-1 run that tied the score at five. The rest of the third set was a close battled until the Racers broke a 20-20 tie with a kill from Lamb. The kill sparked a 6-1 run for MSU to earn the 25-21 victory.
“We got back in control in the second and third sets, but
The final set was a tight battle for the lead, with both teams using three and four-point runs to take a lead or knot the score again. The Racers built the first lead larger than three points when they earned a 17-13 advantage with an 8-2 run. The lead was cut to four (22-18) when the Gamecocks started a 6-0 run to regain the lead 23-22, with Lauren Harkins at the service line. A kill from Hayden tied the set at 23 and started an extra-point battle for the victory. Freshman Logan Su tied the set at 26 and started a 3-0 run to help the Racers earn the 28-26 win.
The teams combined for 302 total attempts in the first day of the Swinging to Eliminate Cancer Fundraiser. The total will be combined with the total number of attempts in the match with Tennessee Tech, Saturday, Nov. 15 for the per attack attempt donation amount. The Racers have already raised $890 for the National Brain Tumor Society from flat donations and have a goal to raise at least $1000 by the end of the weekend.
“I was proud of my team tonight,” said Schwepker. “I think they were trying to raise the number of attack attempts without going into a fifth set for the fundraiser. We raised a lot of money tonight for the National Brian Tumor Society and hopefully we can raise a lot more tomorrow night.”
MSU will play the final regular-season match of the 2008 campaign tomorrow in Racer Arena when league-leading Tennessee Tech comes to
Notes: Senior Heather Norris is now just three service aces away from recording her 100th career ace...she would be just the sixth racers player to tally 1,000 digs and 100 service aces...Saturday will be MSU's annual Parent's Day to honor the commitment to Racer Volleyball by all the players parents...MSU will have to wait until all matches in the OVC schedule are completed tomorrow to see what seed they will earn in the tournament and where it will be held.
