Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Southeast Missouri
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Racers Earn 3-1 Win Over Southeast Missouri
10/15/2010 10:20:08 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 25-21) victory over Southeast Missouri in the first of four-straight home matches in Racer Arena.
Senior Sara Hayden led the team offensively with a season-high 13 kills and a .480 (13k-1e-25ta) hitting percentage, while junior Kayleah Sauer came up big on the defensive side with a season-best 39 digs. Senior Ashley Nenninger added a team-high 18 kills, while fellow senior Becca Lamb added 11.
“We saw strong performances both offensively and defensively tonight,” said assistant coach DongPing Fang. “It was good to see them working together to earn the win.”
The first set was a back-and-forth battle, with 10 tie scores and four lead changes throughout the set. The Racers took the first lead, with a 4-1 start, but saw that lead quickly vanish as the Redhawks went on a 6-0 run to take a 4-7 advantage. MSU tied the set again, with a 3-0 run, and the teams then traded points for most of the rest of the set. SEMO took a lead late in the set, with a 2-0 run, that gave them a 21-22 lead. However, the Racers rallied and used a 4-0 run to end the set with a 25-22 victory.
MSU again took an early (5-1) lead in the second set and saw it slowly shrink as the Redhawks used several small runs to keep the score close until they could mount a strong come back. SEMO went on a 6-0 run, starting down 14-11, to take control of the set for good. The teams then traded serves and runs through the rest of the set before SEMO tied the match at one-set a piece with a 21-25 win.
The third set was all MSU after the first point went to the Redhawks. The Racers then went on a 6-0 run that gave them the lead for the rest of the set. MSU built its lead to as many as 10 points before SEMO used a few small runs to cut the advantage to six before falling 25-19.
The fourth set saw the Redhawks open up an early 2-6 lead and hold on to the advantage until the middle of the set. The Racers were down 10-15 when they mounted a come-back to earn the victory. MSU rattled off nine-straight points, with freshman Katlyn Hudson at the service line, to take a 19-15 lead. The Racers kept the advantage through the rest of the set despite a late push by the Redhawks and earned the 25-21 win.
After struggling last weekend on the defensive side of the court, MSU out-dug SEMO 96-77 and also got its offensive working well with a .282 (64k-15e-174ta) team hitting percentage. The Redhawks were held to a .142 (51k-25e-183ta) clip, but did earn a 0-6 advantage in the service ace column.
The Racers will be in action again tomorrow at Racer Arena when they start the second half of the OVC season when Eastern Illinois comes to town for a 2 p.m. match.
Notes: Junior Kayleah Sauer's 39 digs is the second-highest total for the libero…she career-best is 42 set against SEMO (10/28/08).
