Murray State University Athletics
Volleyball Heads to Belmont Tournament
9/3/2008 5:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team will continue its 11 match road stand with a trip to the Belmont Tournament. The Racers (2-1) will first face the host Bruins, Friday, Sep. 5 at 6:30 p.m. at Curb Event Center. MSU then faces Furman at 1 p.m .and IPFW at 4 pm. Sept. 6.
About Belmont
The Bruins enter this weekend's tournament with a 3-1 overall record after going 2-1 at the TCU Tournament. Belmont earned victories over UMKC (3-0) and Louisiana Tech (3-1) before falling to the host Horned Frogs (1-3). The Bruins then opened the home portion of their season with a 3-0 victory over Evansville, Tuesday, Sep. 2.
Cat Mundy is Belmont's leading offensive and defensive producer, with 50 kills (3.57/set), four service aces, 36 digs, and five blocks. Channing Salava sets up the offense for the Bruins and has collected 126 assists in 14 sets.
The Racers will have to be alert when Belmont is serving, as the team is averaging 2.0 service aces per set so far this season. The Bruins have tallied 28 aces, while only being aced nine times in four matches.
Against the Bruins
Friday's meeting will be the third in MSU history, with both previous matches ending in the win column for the Racers. The last meeting saw MSU earn a 3-0 (15-4, 15-5, 15-5) victory in Nashville, Oct. 3, 1998.
About Furman
The Lady Paladins are 1-3 after going 1-2 at the UGA Tournament over the weekend and falling to Florida International in their home opener, Monday, Sep. 1. Furman opened the season with a 3-1 victory over Georgia State, before losing the next three matches to Georgia (0-3), Georgia Tech (1-3), and FIU (1-3).
Alison West has produced a team-high 36 kills for the Lady Paladins, while Katherine Hall is right on her heals with 35. Nicole Palazzo currently leads the team in hitting percentage (.294) and blocks (3-17=20). Brooke Ellison is the team's leading digger, with 55.
As a team, Furman has about the same statistical numbers as the Racers, with its only advantage over MSU coming in the service aces column (1.5-0.5).
Against the Lady Paladins
Furman is one of five teams, that the Racers will face for the first time in program history this season. MSU faced Virginia and James Madison for the first time in history last weekend and went 1-1.
About IPFW
After finishing the 2007 campaign with a 21-11 overall mark and 12-4 in The Summit League (T-2nd), the Mastodons had a rough start to the 2008 season. IPFW went 0-3 in the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational. The Mastodons fell to Notre Dame (0-3), Valparaiso (1-3), and Nevada (0-3).
Mayara Schlindwein and Jessica Miller are leading the team in kills, with 34 and 33, respectively. Schlindwein is also the team's leader in hitting percentage .324 (34k-10e-74ta). Defensively Rebekah Roehm is leading the team with 39 digs and seven total blocks.
Despite its record, IPFW is hitting the ball well as a team. The Mastodons have a team hitting percentage of .259 (146k-50e-371ta) and are averaging 14.6 kills per set.
Against the Mastodons
This will be only the second meeting between the Racers and IPFW. The Mastodons earned a 3-0 victory over MSU, Sep. 10, 2005 at the Western Illinois/Pizza Hut Invitational.
Opening Weekend
After falling in the opening match of the season to Virginia (0-3), the Racers rebounded with two five-set victories to start the season 2-1 at the JMU/Days Inn Invitational. MSU defeated host James Madison 3-2 after trailing 1-2 and then came back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat New Hampshire (3-2) to claim second place.
Sophomore Ashley Nenninger led the team with 32 kills, including a career-high 16 against James Madison. Senior Alison Mugler showed consistent play with a .269 (18k-4e-52ta) hitting percentage.
Defensively the Racers were led by senior Heather Norris (64 digs) and sophomore Sara Hayden (11 TB). Hayden also added 18 kills and a team-high three service aces.
Mugler and Norris were each named to the all-tournament team for their efforts over the weekend.
Preseason Expectations
After finishing fifth in the OVC standings in 2007, Murray State was picked to finish fourth in the 2008 OVC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the leagues head coaches and sports information directors.
Senior Heather Norris was the lone Racer player to be named to the preseason teams, earning a spot on the first team.
Climbing Career Charts
Two members of the 2008 Racer roster have positioned themselves on the Murray State all-time leader boards and are poised to move up on those lists this season.
Senior Heather Norris finished the 2007 campaign in the No. 2 spot on the all-time digs list. The Naperville, Ill., native now needs just 179 to claim the No. 1 spot from Kim Koehler (1,994). Koehler has owned the record since 1990, prior to the institution of the libero position in 2004.
Fellow senior Alison Mugler is also on the all-time digs list at Murray State, in the 7th spot. Mugler has tallied 1,291 digs, and was the 11th member of the 1,000 Dig Club. The Maumee, Ohio, native is now just 77 digs away from moving up to the No. 6 position.
Mugler Approaching Elite Club
Besides her membership in the 1,000 Dig Club, senior Alison Mugler is approaching membership in the 1,000 Kill Club. The Maumee, Ohio, native is currently 65 kills away from becoming just the eighth member of the club. Mugler will be the first to reach the milestone since 1999 when Krista Shumard ended her career with 1,023 kills. The outside hitter has averaged 305 kills a season and is currently No. 9 on the all-time kill list with 917.
Quick Sets
Two MSU players earned the team's first double-doubles of the season against New Hampshire...Xiao Yu “Jade” Guo recorded 28 assists and 16 digs and was one kill away from a triple-double... Alison Mugler tallied the second double-double on the day with 11 kills and 10 digs...four of the Racers 10 total team blocks came in the fifth set against James Madison...the win over New Hampshire was the first time since Nov. 11, 2006 that the Racers were down 2-0 and came back to win the match...MSU beat Austin Peay 3-2 (28-30, 25-30, 30-20, 30-13, 15-11) at Racer Arena in the final regular-season match of the season.
About Belmont
The Bruins enter this weekend's tournament with a 3-1 overall record after going 2-1 at the TCU Tournament. Belmont earned victories over UMKC (3-0) and Louisiana Tech (3-1) before falling to the host Horned Frogs (1-3). The Bruins then opened the home portion of their season with a 3-0 victory over Evansville, Tuesday, Sep. 2.
Cat Mundy is Belmont's leading offensive and defensive producer, with 50 kills (3.57/set), four service aces, 36 digs, and five blocks. Channing Salava sets up the offense for the Bruins and has collected 126 assists in 14 sets.
The Racers will have to be alert when Belmont is serving, as the team is averaging 2.0 service aces per set so far this season. The Bruins have tallied 28 aces, while only being aced nine times in four matches.
Against the Bruins
Friday's meeting will be the third in MSU history, with both previous matches ending in the win column for the Racers. The last meeting saw MSU earn a 3-0 (15-4, 15-5, 15-5) victory in Nashville, Oct. 3, 1998.
About Furman
The Lady Paladins are 1-3 after going 1-2 at the UGA Tournament over the weekend and falling to Florida International in their home opener, Monday, Sep. 1. Furman opened the season with a 3-1 victory over Georgia State, before losing the next three matches to Georgia (0-3), Georgia Tech (1-3), and FIU (1-3).
Alison West has produced a team-high 36 kills for the Lady Paladins, while Katherine Hall is right on her heals with 35. Nicole Palazzo currently leads the team in hitting percentage (.294) and blocks (3-17=20). Brooke Ellison is the team's leading digger, with 55.
As a team, Furman has about the same statistical numbers as the Racers, with its only advantage over MSU coming in the service aces column (1.5-0.5).
Against the Lady Paladins
Furman is one of five teams, that the Racers will face for the first time in program history this season. MSU faced Virginia and James Madison for the first time in history last weekend and went 1-1.
About IPFW
After finishing the 2007 campaign with a 21-11 overall mark and 12-4 in The Summit League (T-2nd), the Mastodons had a rough start to the 2008 season. IPFW went 0-3 in the Notre Dame Shamrock Invitational. The Mastodons fell to Notre Dame (0-3), Valparaiso (1-3), and Nevada (0-3).
Mayara Schlindwein and Jessica Miller are leading the team in kills, with 34 and 33, respectively. Schlindwein is also the team's leader in hitting percentage .324 (34k-10e-74ta). Defensively Rebekah Roehm is leading the team with 39 digs and seven total blocks.
Despite its record, IPFW is hitting the ball well as a team. The Mastodons have a team hitting percentage of .259 (146k-50e-371ta) and are averaging 14.6 kills per set.
Against the Mastodons
This will be only the second meeting between the Racers and IPFW. The Mastodons earned a 3-0 victory over MSU, Sep. 10, 2005 at the Western Illinois/Pizza Hut Invitational.
Opening Weekend
After falling in the opening match of the season to Virginia (0-3), the Racers rebounded with two five-set victories to start the season 2-1 at the JMU/Days Inn Invitational. MSU defeated host James Madison 3-2 after trailing 1-2 and then came back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat New Hampshire (3-2) to claim second place.
Sophomore Ashley Nenninger led the team with 32 kills, including a career-high 16 against James Madison. Senior Alison Mugler showed consistent play with a .269 (18k-4e-52ta) hitting percentage.
Defensively the Racers were led by senior Heather Norris (64 digs) and sophomore Sara Hayden (11 TB). Hayden also added 18 kills and a team-high three service aces.
Mugler and Norris were each named to the all-tournament team for their efforts over the weekend.
Preseason Expectations
After finishing fifth in the OVC standings in 2007, Murray State was picked to finish fourth in the 2008 OVC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the leagues head coaches and sports information directors.
Senior Heather Norris was the lone Racer player to be named to the preseason teams, earning a spot on the first team.
Climbing Career Charts
Two members of the 2008 Racer roster have positioned themselves on the Murray State all-time leader boards and are poised to move up on those lists this season.
Senior Heather Norris finished the 2007 campaign in the No. 2 spot on the all-time digs list. The Naperville, Ill., native now needs just 179 to claim the No. 1 spot from Kim Koehler (1,994). Koehler has owned the record since 1990, prior to the institution of the libero position in 2004.
Fellow senior Alison Mugler is also on the all-time digs list at Murray State, in the 7th spot. Mugler has tallied 1,291 digs, and was the 11th member of the 1,000 Dig Club. The Maumee, Ohio, native is now just 77 digs away from moving up to the No. 6 position.
Mugler Approaching Elite Club
Besides her membership in the 1,000 Dig Club, senior Alison Mugler is approaching membership in the 1,000 Kill Club. The Maumee, Ohio, native is currently 65 kills away from becoming just the eighth member of the club. Mugler will be the first to reach the milestone since 1999 when Krista Shumard ended her career with 1,023 kills. The outside hitter has averaged 305 kills a season and is currently No. 9 on the all-time kill list with 917.
Quick Sets
Two MSU players earned the team's first double-doubles of the season against New Hampshire...Xiao Yu “Jade” Guo recorded 28 assists and 16 digs and was one kill away from a triple-double... Alison Mugler tallied the second double-double on the day with 11 kills and 10 digs...four of the Racers 10 total team blocks came in the fifth set against James Madison...the win over New Hampshire was the first time since Nov. 11, 2006 that the Racers were down 2-0 and came back to win the match...MSU beat Austin Peay 3-2 (28-30, 25-30, 30-20, 30-13, 15-11) at Racer Arena in the final regular-season match of the season.
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