Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Tennessee Tech
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Lamb Records 1,000th Kill in Racers Five-Set Victory Over Tennessee Tech
10/2/2010 7:02:13 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team celebrated two victories in Racer Arena in their match against Tennessee Tech. The Racers (7-10, 3-3 OVC) earned a 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 29-27, 16-25, 15-9) win over the Golden Eagles (4-13, 2-4 OVC) in Ohio Valley Conference action. MSU also celebrated a personal milestone when senior Becca Lamb became the ninth Racers player to record 1,000 kills.
“It was a good day for the Racers program today,” said assistant coach DongPing Fang. “Becca Lamb was able to pass a personal milestone with her 1,000th kill, but more importantly we earned the win. We showed a lot of composure and confidence today and are continuing to improve with every match.”
Lamb recorded her sixth double-double of the season for MSU in the match, with 12 kills and 12 digs. Fellow senior Ashley Nenninger was one of two Racers with 20+ kills in the match, as she garnered a career-best 23 and added a .327 (23k-6e-52ta) hitting percentage. Junior Logan Su tallied 20 kills and a .289 (20k-7e-45ta) attack percentage.
The opening set, like the rest of the match, was a back-and-forth battle, with eight tie scores and four lead changes. No team had a lead larger than one point until a 4-0 run by TTU gave them a 9-12 advantage and the lead for the rest of the set. The Golden Eagles pushed the lead up to five late in the set (18-23), but the Racers kept fighting and kept TTU from earning set point for four serves before falling 22-25.
The teams again traded serves throughout the second set before MSU earned a 17-14 advantage with a 6-2 run. The lead was enough for the Racers to hold on for a 25-21 victory and head into the intermission tied at one set a piece.
The third set was even closer and required extra points to decide. The teams combined for six lead changes and 14 tie scores in the set. The final tie came at 27 when Lamb landed a kill that helped the Racers start a 3-0 run to end the set with a 29-27 victory.
The Golden Eagles quickly regained the momentum in the fourth set, going on a 10-2 run to go up 9-14. TTU continued to keep up the pressure and earned a 16-25 victory to tie the set at two sets a piece and force the deciding set.
The fifth set opened with the Racers going on a 6-0 run to take control of the set and match. After the run the Golden Eagles tried to make a come-back, with a 5-1 run of their own that cut the lead to two (7-5), but the deficit was too much to overcome. The Racers used several small runs through the rest of the set, while only allowing TTU to garner one point at a time to take the set and match victory 15-12.
The battle was evident on the score sheet as well, with both teams recording a .272 hitting percentage. The Racers garnered 73 kills, 24 errors and 180 attempts, while the Golden Eagles tallied 65 kills, 21 errors and 162 total attempts. Despite the close marks in hitting percentage, TTU earned slight advantages in all the other statistical categories, with its largest advantage coming in the blocking column (3-10).
The Racers will hit the road for their next matches, as they travel to Morehead, Ky., to face Morehead State, Friday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. MSU will also battle with Eastern Kentucky, Saturday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m.
