Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eastern Illinois
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Racers Fall to Panthers in Four
9/28/2010 10:01:10 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Racers (6-9, 2-2 OVC) were led by senior Becca Lamb, who tallied 14 kills and a .361 (14k-1e-36ta) hitting percentage. Red-shirt freshman Wendi Zickfield was also strong for MSU, with a .471 (10k-2e-17ta) attack percentage and four block solos. Junior Jade Guo recorded her second triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 39 assists and 11 digs.
The teams traded the first six serves of the match before the Panthers went on a 3-0 run to take the first advantage of the match. EIU held on to a two-three point lead for most of the set. The Racers made several small runs, but as soon as they tied the set the Panthers would pull away again. The final tie came at 15 after a MSU 3-0 run. EIU then went on the longest run of the set, 5-0, to take the lead for good. The Racers kept fighting and cut the lead to two points (21-23) toward the end of the set, but eventually fell 22-25.
MSU turned the tables in the second set and opened up a lead early. The Racers went up 4-1 and never allowed the Panthers to get closer than one point (4-3) the rest of the set. MSU kept the momentum on their side by not letting EIU rally for more than three-straight points the rest of the set and earned the 25-18 win.
The third set was a hard fought battle, with 14 ties and six lead changes. The final swing came with the score knotted at 18. The Panthers then went on a 2-0 run that gave them the lead for the rest of the set. The Racers fought to within one point several times in the final points of the set, but could not get the equalizer and lost 23-25.
The fourth set started out as a close battle, with the teams trading the first eight serves before the Panthers took control for the rest of the set with 2-0 run. The run allowed EIU to keep an advantage throughout the set, despite the Racers continuing to fight. The final turning point for the Panthers came with a 5-0 run that gave them an 8-14 lead. After that run MSU was only able to cut the lead to a few as three points and fell 20-25.
The teams were evenly matched throughout the box score at the end of the match, with EIU holding an advantage in most including the service aces column, 3-8.
The Racers will return home for two weekend matches against Jacksonville State, Friday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. and Tennessee State, Saturday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m.
Notes: The loss to the Panthers breaks an eight-match winning streak over EIU that dated back to Sep. 22, 2006…Lamb ended the match with 14 kills and is now just 12 from reaching the 1,000 Kill Club.
