Racers Hit the Road for Two Mid-Week Matches

Tuesday, October 26

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

7:00 PM

Murray State

Southeast Missouri

Junior Kayleah Sauer led the team with 39 digs the last time the Racers and SEMO met.

Photo by: Fred Mullane

10/25/2010 5:55:54 PM | Women's Volleyball

The Murray State volleyball team will hit the road after a four-match home stand for two mid-week matches. The Racers (10-13, 6-6 OVC) will first travel to face Southeast Missouri, Tuesday, Oct. 26 (7 p.m.) and will then battle with SIU Edwardsville, Thursday, Oct. 28 (5:30 p.m.).

Scouting Southeast Missouri
The Redhawks head into Tuesday's match with a 5-16 overall record and a 2-8 mark in the OVC. SEMO is on a five match losing streak that includes a loss to MSU Oct. 15 in Murray, Ky.

As a team the Redhawks are hitting just .123 (908k-512e-3223ta), with no member of the team hitting over .195. Claire Keaton is the team's kill and attempt leader, with 239 kills and 849 attempts on the season and she has a .163 attack percentage. Karlee Lursen is the next top offensive threat, with 158 kills in 595 attempts.

The Redhawks may have struggled a little on offense this season, but they have not struggled on the defensive side. SEMO is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation in digs per set (18.67).

Against the Redhawks
It has only been two weeks since the last meeting between the Racers and SEMO when MSU earned a 3-1 win. The Racers out-hit the Redhawks .282 to .142 and had a clear advantage in the digs column at 96-77.

Junior Kayleah Sauer led the defense with a season-best 39 digs, three from her career-best set against SEMO in 2008. Senior Sara Hayden led the offense with a season-best 13 kills and .480 (13k-1e-25ta) hitting percentage. Fellow seniors Ashley Nenninger and Becca Lamb also tallied double-digit kill totals, with 18 and 11 respectively.

Claire Keaton led the Redhawks with 12 kills, a .214 (12k-3e-42ta) hitting percentage and 19 digs. Andrea Baylin tallied 10 kills and 12 digs.

The Series
The Redhawks lead the all-time series 42-17, but the Racers have been victorious in eight of the last 10 matches, including the last three. MSU has a 6-21 record when playing in Cape Girardeau, Mo., with four of those victories in the last five years.

Scouting SIU Edwardsville
The Cougars head into this week's matches with a 12-10 overall record after winning their last two matches. SIUE will play Valparaiso, Monday, Oct. 25 before the Racers come to town.

The Cougars have five players with over 100 kills, but three players see the majority of attempts. Julia Whitefield has seen the most attempts this season (667), but has 188 kills and a .126 hitting percentage. Sydney Wilslow is the teams offensive leader, with 237 kills and a .290 (237k-83e-534ta) hitting percentage. Lexi Cibulka is the other key hitter for SIUE, with 524 attempts and 174 kills.

As a team the Cougars are hitting .184, but their opponents aren't fairing any better, with a .180 mark. SIUE has a disadvantage in the blocking column, with its opponents netting 2.1 blocks per set and the Cougars getting 1.4.

Against the Cougars
The Racers and SIUE meet earlier this season, in the first match on the new Racer Arena floor. MSU earned a 3-0 win in the match that was also the first home match of the 2010 season. Senior Ashley Nenninger had a strong performance for the Racers. The Marble Hilll, Mo., native tallied 13 kills and a .423 (13k-2e-26ta) hitting percentage. Sara Hayden hit .636 (7k-0e-11ta) to help the team to hit at a .365 (44k-9e-96ta) clip.

The Racers held the Cougars to a .118 (31k-18e-110ta) hitting percentage and earned a 50-35 advantage in digs.

The Cougars were led by Lexi Cibulka and Jessica Hemann, both who tallied nine kills.

The Series
The match against the Cougars will be just the third meeting in the all-time series. SIUE will be a member of the OVC next season, but will not be eligible for post-season play until the 2012-13 season. The Racers have been victorious in the previous two meetings, including the match in Racer Arena earlier this season.

Swinging To Eliminate Cancer
For the third-straight season the Murray State volleyball team hosted Swinging To Eliminate Cancer, a fundraiser to help those effected by cancer. But this season the team raised money to help closer to home, teaming up with Murray-Calloway County Regional Cancer Center. All the funds raised will now go to the MCCRCC in honor of Kendra Schwepker, the wife of MSU head volleyball coach David Schwepker. The donations are still expected to come in during the following week, but the total is already over $2,500.

Making the List
Senior Becca Lamb became just the ninth Racers player to record 1,000 Kills in their career, when she landed her first kill against Tennessee Tech (Oct. 2) in Racer Arena. The Highland, Ill., native has now tallied 1,060 kills and could end her career anywhere from third to seventh on the all-time kill list at MSU.

Fellow seniors Sara Hayden and Ashley Nenninger are also trying to make the list this season. Hayden needs 103 kills and Nenninger needs 109.

Quick Sets
Junior Jade Guo is 186 assists from taking over 3rd on the All-Time Assists chart at MSU from Mica Wojinski (3,290)...junior Kayleah Sauer moved into 6th on the all-time dig list at MSU, with 1,470..senior Sara Hayden needs three more blocks to move into 4th on the Total Blocks list and is one block assists from moving into 3rd on that list...Ashley Nenninger has made her way onto the total block and block assists lists as well this season...she is currently 10th in total blocks (177) and 8th in block assists (137).