Racers Prepare for Three Match Week

Tuesday, November 2

Racer Arena

7:00 PM

Murray State

UT Martin

Junior Jade guo was named OVC Setter of the Week for the fifth time in 2010.

Photo by: Fred Mullane

11/1/2010 4:10:36 PM | Women's Volleyball

The Murray State volleyball team has a full slate of matches this week after having the weekend off. The Racers will first host UT Martin at Racer Arena, Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. and then travel to Tennessee Tech (Nov. 5/7 p.m.) and Jacksonville State (Nov. 6/2 p.m.) for weekend league action.

Scouting UT Martin
The Skyhawks will come to Murray well rested after having a week off. UTM has a 5-20 overall record and a 3-10 mark in the OVC.

The Skyhawks have five players with over 100 kills, but one player stands out with 282 kills and 950 attempts. Lauren Montague is hitting .160 on the season. As a team, UTM is hitting .148 and has only two players hitting over .200 and four players hitting under .100.

Against the Skyhawks
In the early meeting this season at Martin, seniors Becca Lamb and Ashley Nenninger led MSU to a 3-1 win. Lamb tallied a .310 (11k-2e-29ta) hitting percentage and added 14 digs, while Nenninger had 10 kills.

The Racers were out-blocked by the Skyhawks 3-13, but had a clear advantage serving. MSU had nine aces to UTM's one and recorded just two service errors to the Skyhawk's 11.

Lauren Montague and Ashley Doherty led UTM. Montague had 15 kills, while Doherty hit .500 (9k-1e-16ta).

The Series
The Racers own a 33-17 advantage in the all-time series after winning the last five matches. MSU has been victorious in nine of the last 10 meetings and is 18-5 when playing the Skyhawks in Racer Arena.

Scouting Tennessee Tech
The Golden Eagles head into this week with a 6-18 overall mark and a 4-9 record against league teams after dropping their last four matches.

TTU has four players with over 150 kills and 500 attempts and three of those are hitting over .200. However, Leah Meffert is the clear go-to hitter for the Golden Eagles, with 304 kills and 885 total attempts. She also has a .205 hitting percentage and 24 service aces.

As a team, TTU is being out-hit .188 to .227 and out-dug 13.8/set to 15.5.

Against the Golden Eagles
In the first meeting this season the Racers earned a 3-2 win in Racer Arena. Senior Ashley Nenninger and junior Logan Su each tallied 20+ kills, while senior Becca Lamb added 12. Nenninger hit .327 (23k-63-52ta) to lead the team.

Both teams ended the grudge match with a .272 hitting percentage, but TTU earned an advantage in the blocking column, 3-10.

Leah Meffert led the Golden Eagles with 21 kills and 20 digs, while Kelsey Gray added 17 kills, a .419 (17k-4e-31ta) hitting percentage and five blocks.

The Series
MSU leads the all-time series, 30-24, after earning victories in the last three matches. The Racers also hold a slight advantage when playing in Cookeville, at 12-11.

Scouting Jacksonville State
The Gamecocks are 12-12 overall and 7-6 in the league standings after losing their last three matches.

JSU has struggled to have a consistent offense this season, hitting .171, but its opponents have not fared much better with a .180 mark. The Gamecocks are also getting out-blocked 1.6/set to 2.3.

JSU has four players with over 200 kills and 550 attempts, but Caitlin Vorbeck is the teams leader across the board. She has 285 kills, 771 attempts, hits .185, has 28 service aces and 74 blocks.

Against the Gamecocks
In the first battle between the Racers and JSU, the Gamecocks earned a 2-3 victory in Racer Arena. Junior Jade Guo had a standout performance for MSU, with a triple double. Guo tallied 10 kills, 39 assists and 14 digs, while hitting .476 (10k-0e-21ta) and added six blocks. Senior Ashley Nenninger added 21 kills, while fellow senior Becca Lamb garnered 11 kills and 18 digs.

Despite the loss, the Racers earned a 12-6 advantage blocking and hit .288 while holding JSU to a .178 mark.

Cailin Vorbeck and Jen Meyer led the Gamecocks. Vorbeck tallied a .340 (21k-5e-47ta) hitting percentage, while Meyer added 14 kills.

The Series
JSU has a 9-4 advantage in the all-time series, but it is tied, 3-3, when playing in Jacksonville. The Gamecocks have been the winners in the last four matches, including two five-set battles.

Sara Stepping Up
Senior Sara Hayden stepped up her performance last week for MSU, with double-digit kill performances in both matches. The Louisville, Ky., native also hit .478 (25k-3e-46ta) and added nine blocks. Hayden started the week with a .588 (10k-0e-17ta) mark at SEMO and then added season-bests of 15 kills and six blocks at SIUE. The blocks helped her move into 2nd on the career block assist charts (223) and to 4th on the Total Block list (269).

OVC Honors Guo For Fifth Time
For the fifth time this season junior Jade Guo has been named to OVC Setter of the Week. The DaTong, Shanxi, China native is the only person in the conference this season to earn a weekly award five times.

Guo recorded two double-doubles for eight total on the season last week. She posted season bests of 52 assists and 17 digs versus Southeast Missouri. In the win over SIUE, Guo had 52 assists and 10 digs.

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 1,084 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 78 kills and Nenninger needs 80.

Quick Sets
Junior Jade Guo is 81 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 1,516...Ashley Nenninger has made her way onto the total block and block assists lists this season...she is currently 10th in total blocks (180) and 8th in block assists (139)...sophomore Cassy Woolverton had her best performance of the season and helped spark the Racers to victory at SIUE…Woolverton tallied six kills, a .333 hitting percentage, two digs, and a block against the Cougars…junior Teresa Krog earned her first start of the season at SEMO since Sep. 22 at UT Martin.