Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Jacksonville State
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Racers Rally Against Jacksonville State Falls Short
10/1/2010 11:36:57 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team lost a five-set match to Jacksonville State, 2-3 (20-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-13, 12-15). The Racers (6-10, 2-3 OVC) dropped the first two sets and then rallied to win the next two and force the deciding set.
“We fought hard today and we are moving in the right direction as a team,” said assistant coach DongPing Fang. “We stuck to our game plan and just fell a little short. I think the team did gain a lot of confidence from this match.”
MSU was led by senior Ashley Nenninger, who tallied a career-best 21 kills, a .273 (21k-6e-55ta) hitting percentage and five (1-4 blocks). Junior Jade Guo garnered her third triple-double of the season and the second in as many matches, with 10 kills, 39 assists and 14 digs. Guo also added a career-high six blocks (2-4). Senior Becca Lamb also had a strong performance for the Racers, with her fifth double-double of the year, with 11 kills and 18 digs.
Defensively junior Kayleah Sauer tallied 14 digs, while red-shirt freshman Casey Bucher had a career-best 11 digs.
The Gamecocks (9-7, 4-1 OVC) led the first set from start to finish, with MSU only getting a tie after the first two serves. JSU opened up the lead to seven points after a 6-0 run in the middle of the set. The Racers kept fighting and cut the lead to four, but eventually fell 20-25.
The second set was much like the first, except MSU kept the deficit to only three throughout the set. JSU eventually earned the 23-25 victory and went into the intermission with a 2-0 advantage.
After the break the Racers came out ready to fight and quickly took their first lead of the match with a 5-0 run that gave them a 5-2 lead. MSU kept the pressure on the Gamecocks and used several small runs throughout the set to earn the 25-16 victory.
The fourth set was similar to the third, as MSU took a lead from the start of the match and never allowed JSU to get closer than a tie at two. The Racers went on three large runs in the middle of the set to push their advantage to nine points (16-7) and went on to win 25-13 to force the fifth set.
The teams traded the first eight serves of the final set before either team was able to garner the needed two-point advantage. The Gamecocks were the first to strike and used a 3-0 run to take the lead. MSU fought back to tie the set at seven, but were unable to get the swing point to take an advantage, as another 2-0 run by JSU gave them the lead for good. The Racer fought hard at the end of the set, but the deficit was too much to overcome and they fell 12-15.
MSU fell to the Gamecocks despite having advantages in almost all of the statistical categories on the box score. The Racers out-hit JSU, .299 (56k-13e-144ta) to .178 (64k-31e-185ta) and out-blocked the Gamecocks 12-6.
MSU will be in action again at Racer Arena, Saturday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. when Tennessee Tech comes to town for an Ohio Valley Conference match.
Notes: Senior Becca Lamb finished the match with 11 kills, just one shy of recording her 1,000th career kill…her next kill will make her the ninth Racers player to join the club…MSU's 12 total team blocks are the most in the 2010 campaign.
