Volleyball Ends 2009 Season with 3-1 Loss to Jacksonville State

Friday, November 20

Jacksonville, Ala.

4:30 p.m.

Murray State

Jacksonville State

Volleyball Ends 2009 Season with 3-1 Loss to Jacksonville State

11/21/2009 1:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

The No. 4 Murray State volleyball team concluded its 2009 campaign with a 1-3 (25-23, 20-25, 19-25, 18-25) loss to No. 1 Jacksonville State in the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinal match in Pete Mathews Coliseum. The Racers finish the season with a 13-18 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the league.

“I thought we played hard and didn't give up tonight,” said head coach David Schwepker. “We just had probably one of our worst offensive performances of the season. Jacksonville State blocked extremely well today and we just couldn't get the ball to find the court.”

MSU saw strong performances from sophomore Mary Cunningham and junior Sara Hayden. Cunningham tallied a .294 (7e-2e-17ta) hitting percentage and added three blocks. Hayden garnered a team-high .368 (9k-2e-19ta) attack percentage and added five blocks, two digs and a service ace.

The Racers did have a strong defensive night, with three players tallying double-digit dig totals. Senior Cassie Chesney led the team with a career-best 26 digs. For her efforts Chesney was named to the seven-member OVC All-Tournament Team. Fellow senior Kelli Johnson added a career-best 16 digs and freshman Lydia Orf garnered 12.

“Our seniors played great tonight and went out strong,” commented Schwepker. “ Cassie Chesney did everything that we needed her to do and Kelli Johnson played outstanding. I was very happy with how the seniors stepped up and led by example.”

The Racers opened the first set with a lot of energy and jumped out to an early 11-3 lead. MSU continued to push and had an 18-7 advantage when the Gamecocks started to push back and used a 7-1 run to cut the lead to five points (19-14). The teams then battled back and forth for a few points before JSU was able to tie the set at 22. The Racers did not quit and never let the Gamecocks take a lead in the set. After a tie at 23, MSU saw kills from junior Becca Lamb and sophomore Cassie Chesney played her first game at the libero position…senior Kelli Johnson saw action in her first OVC Tournament game…the Racers were without 2009 OVC Defensive Player of the Year Kayleah Sauer due to injury…Chesney ends her career with 1,080 career digs (No. 12) and 2,898 assists (No. 4)…sophomore Jade Guo is currently No. 6 on the assists list with 2,277…she is also No. 9 on the assists in a season chart… Hayden ends the season with 231 total blocks, including 45 block solos and 188 block assists…the Louisville, Ky., native is eighth on the all-time block list, 11th on the solo block list and fifth on the block assists list.