Murray State University Athletics
Volleyball Adds Two to 2009 Roster
6/23/2009 2:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
The 2009 Murray State volleyball roster was bolstered with the addition of Casey Bucher and Erin Keeney. Keeney, a middle blocker from College Park, Ga., is joining the Racer team after spending three seasons as a varsity player at Woodward Academy, while Bucher comes to Murray State from Leopold High School in Leopold, Mo.
Bucher has been a standout on the Leopold varsity team for the past four seasons. Bucher helped the Wildcats earn four-straight conference and district titles, while also claiming a section title and finishing third at the Missouri State tournament in 2007. The four-time all-conference and all-district honoree helped Leopold to a 105-16-3 record in four seasons. In her senior season, Bucher was also named to the all-region, all-state, and all-Southeast Missourian teams after compiling 198 kills, 131 digs and 53 blocks. In 2008 she was named the B. A. Sports Player of the Year. As a junior she tallied 240 kills, with a .312 hitting percentage and added 68 blocks and 154 digs.
“I have seen Casey in camps and I know that she is a good student-athlete that will work hard,” said head coach David Schwepker. “She will train at setter, a position that she has not played before, but we know she has the skills and capacity to become a really good setter during her time at Murray State. She also is extremely smart and exemplifies what we are looking for in a student-athlete.”
Bucher is also a strong student, earning the Army National Scholar Athlete of the Year honor in 2008 and graduating as the class valedictorian (4.0 GPA) at Leopold. While a prep she was also a member of the Beta Club, business club, pep club, and played softball. For the softball team she earned the offense award one season and the RBI Award for two years.
In her three seasons as a War Eagle Keeney helped lead the team to the Georgia High School Association AAAA State Semi-Finals and a 2008 GHSA AAA State Championship. Woodward went 112-51 during her time on the team. During Keeney's senior campaign she tallied 97 kills with a .427 hitting percentage and added 35 blocks.
“We are extremely happy to have Erin join our program. She is a very low error athlete, extremely intelligent (both on and off the court) and is the kind of player that just gets the job done,” said head coach David Schwepker. “Erin comes from one of the best high school volleyball programs in the state of Georgia, winning the State Championship her senior year after just missing out in the State Semi-final matches her junior and sophomore years.”
Keeney is also strong in academics, earning a 4.0 GPA and graduated in the top 10% of her class, while also participating in the National Honor Society.
“She is also extremely intelligent in the classroom with a perfect 4.0 GPA for her high school career,” Schwepker added. “She is exactly the kind of student athlete that we are looking for here at Murray State.”
