Murray State University Athletics
Friday, October 30
Cape Girardeau, Mo.
7 p.m.
Murray State
3
at
1
Southeast Missouri State
Racers Claim Key Road Victory Over Southeast Missouri State
10/31/2009 3:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball squad came into Cape Girardeau, Mo., needing to earn a win over Southeast Missouri State in the team's first meeting during the 2009 campaign to keep their hopes of moving up in the Ohio Valley Conference standings alive. The Racers (7-16, 7-6 OVC) claimed the 3-1 (25-16, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18) win on strong all-around play.
The win pushed MSU one more win ahead of the Redhawks (9-15, 5-8 OVC) in the conference standings and kept the Racers securely in fifth place. After Tennessee Tech lost to Jacksonville State, Friday, MSU has a chance to tie the Golden Eagles for fourth place with a win Saturday at Eastern Illinois.
MSU was led offensively by junior Sara Hayden, who tallied a .500 (10k-0e-20ta) attack percentage while adding three digs and four blocks. Kayleah Sauer led the team on defense, recording 26 total digs.
The Racers claimed the first point of the set off a Redhawks error and then pushed ahead with a 5-2 run to take a 6-2 advantage. SEMO then mounted a come-back and rattled off a 6-2 run of its own to tie the set at eight. The Racers responded with a 4-0 run to take the final control of the scoreboard for the set. MSU held on to at least a two-point lead for the rest of the set and pushed the lead to as many as 10 points. Freshman Lydia Orf did her best to help the Racers get the large advantage, starting a seven-serve string, with one of two aces in the set. SEMO tried to keep MSU from earning set-point at the end, but the Racers earned the 25-16 win.
“Everything went our way in the first set and that made it really easy to lose focus in the second and that is what happened tonight,” said head coach David Schwepker. “But I was glad that our team came back in the third and fourth sets and focused on what we needed to do.”
The points toggled back-and-forth for the first 12 serves in set two before either team claimed an advantage. This time it was the Redhawks who earned the first lead, going on a 3-0 run with the score tied at six for the 9-6 lead. The battle resumed for the next six serves, but SEMO again went on a 4-0 run to push its lead to seven (16-9). The Racers pushed back and cut the lead to four with a 3-0 run, but were never able to get closer in the set and went into the intermission tied at one-set apiece after the Redhawks took the second set 25-18.
SEMO opened the third set with a quick 3-1 lead before the Racers tied the set at four with a 3-1 run of their own. The teams again traded points for four tie scores before MSU took a clear advantage with a 3-0 run (11-8). The Redhawks pushed back to tie the set again at 13 with a 4-2 run, but a kill from Mary Cunningham kept them from gaining an advantage. The teams then traded 2-0 runs and forced yet another tie at 15 and again the Racers denied SEMO the lead and went on a 4-0 run to take control for good on way to the 25-19 win.
The set was filled with a lot of defensive plays that created long rallies and exciting points. There were a total of 54 digs in the set accounting for 46 percent of the match's total digs. The Racers contributed 30 of the digs in the set, with 13 coming from Sauer alone.
The fourth set again opened with a tight score, which included four ties, before SEMO used a 3-0 run to take the first advantage. MSU kept the deficit around two or three points until the mid-way point of the set when they pulled within one (13-12). The Racers kept pushing and tied the set at 14 and forced a battle for the lead. The teams traded the next four serves before MSU took its first two-point lead of the set (18-16). The Racers then finished the set and match with a 7-2 run showing both strong defense and offense during the stretch.
The Racers tallied a .331 (58k-12e-139ta) hitting percentage, with four players recording hitting percentages over .300 and none of the six hitters having a percentage below .215 in the match. MSU also claimed a key defensive advantage by out-digging a SEMO team that is second in the NCAA in digs per set (19.65). The Racers tallied 64 digs, 10 more than the Redhawks 54.
“I talked to the team before the match about SEMO being a very strong defensive team and that they should expect for it to take three or four attempts to get a kill,” said Schwepker. “That is exactly what SEMO did, but I was proud of our team to out dig them tonight.”
“The best thing to come out of tonight, besides getting a win against a team that we really needed to, is that we were a team that had a lot of fight and heart,” Schwepker added. “That is what any team is going to need to win at the OVC tournament.”
MSU now travels to face Eastern Illinois, Saturday, Oct. 31. The match is the second of three straight road matches for the Racers, who will end the road trip at UT Martin, Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
Notes: This was the first win for MSU not in Racer Arena this season…the Racers are now 1-7 on the road in 2009…sophomore Mary Cunningham tallied a career-best three assists.
Quotes
Head Coach David Schwepker
“It feels really good that we can be on the road and feel comfortable enough to win. “
“I think that what is really good about our team is that we don't just have one or two hitters. It makes it harder for a team to defend against us.”
The win pushed MSU one more win ahead of the Redhawks (9-15, 5-8 OVC) in the conference standings and kept the Racers securely in fifth place. After Tennessee Tech lost to Jacksonville State, Friday, MSU has a chance to tie the Golden Eagles for fourth place with a win Saturday at Eastern Illinois.
MSU was led offensively by junior Sara Hayden, who tallied a .500 (10k-0e-20ta) attack percentage while adding three digs and four blocks. Kayleah Sauer led the team on defense, recording 26 total digs.
The Racers claimed the first point of the set off a Redhawks error and then pushed ahead with a 5-2 run to take a 6-2 advantage. SEMO then mounted a come-back and rattled off a 6-2 run of its own to tie the set at eight. The Racers responded with a 4-0 run to take the final control of the scoreboard for the set. MSU held on to at least a two-point lead for the rest of the set and pushed the lead to as many as 10 points. Freshman Lydia Orf did her best to help the Racers get the large advantage, starting a seven-serve string, with one of two aces in the set. SEMO tried to keep MSU from earning set-point at the end, but the Racers earned the 25-16 win.
“Everything went our way in the first set and that made it really easy to lose focus in the second and that is what happened tonight,” said head coach David Schwepker. “But I was glad that our team came back in the third and fourth sets and focused on what we needed to do.”
The points toggled back-and-forth for the first 12 serves in set two before either team claimed an advantage. This time it was the Redhawks who earned the first lead, going on a 3-0 run with the score tied at six for the 9-6 lead. The battle resumed for the next six serves, but SEMO again went on a 4-0 run to push its lead to seven (16-9). The Racers pushed back and cut the lead to four with a 3-0 run, but were never able to get closer in the set and went into the intermission tied at one-set apiece after the Redhawks took the second set 25-18.
SEMO opened the third set with a quick 3-1 lead before the Racers tied the set at four with a 3-1 run of their own. The teams again traded points for four tie scores before MSU took a clear advantage with a 3-0 run (11-8). The Redhawks pushed back to tie the set again at 13 with a 4-2 run, but a kill from Mary Cunningham kept them from gaining an advantage. The teams then traded 2-0 runs and forced yet another tie at 15 and again the Racers denied SEMO the lead and went on a 4-0 run to take control for good on way to the 25-19 win.
The set was filled with a lot of defensive plays that created long rallies and exciting points. There were a total of 54 digs in the set accounting for 46 percent of the match's total digs. The Racers contributed 30 of the digs in the set, with 13 coming from Sauer alone.
The fourth set again opened with a tight score, which included four ties, before SEMO used a 3-0 run to take the first advantage. MSU kept the deficit around two or three points until the mid-way point of the set when they pulled within one (13-12). The Racers kept pushing and tied the set at 14 and forced a battle for the lead. The teams traded the next four serves before MSU took its first two-point lead of the set (18-16). The Racers then finished the set and match with a 7-2 run showing both strong defense and offense during the stretch.
The Racers tallied a .331 (58k-12e-139ta) hitting percentage, with four players recording hitting percentages over .300 and none of the six hitters having a percentage below .215 in the match. MSU also claimed a key defensive advantage by out-digging a SEMO team that is second in the NCAA in digs per set (19.65). The Racers tallied 64 digs, 10 more than the Redhawks 54.
“I talked to the team before the match about SEMO being a very strong defensive team and that they should expect for it to take three or four attempts to get a kill,” said Schwepker. “That is exactly what SEMO did, but I was proud of our team to out dig them tonight.”
“The best thing to come out of tonight, besides getting a win against a team that we really needed to, is that we were a team that had a lot of fight and heart,” Schwepker added. “That is what any team is going to need to win at the OVC tournament.”
MSU now travels to face Eastern Illinois, Saturday, Oct. 31. The match is the second of three straight road matches for the Racers, who will end the road trip at UT Martin, Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
Notes: This was the first win for MSU not in Racer Arena this season…the Racers are now 1-7 on the road in 2009…sophomore Mary Cunningham tallied a career-best three assists.
Quotes
Head Coach David Schwepker
“It feels really good that we can be on the road and feel comfortable enough to win. “
“I think that what is really good about our team is that we don't just have one or two hitters. It makes it harder for a team to defend against us.”
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