Racers Come Back From 0-2 Deficit to Earn 3-2 Win Over UT Martin

Friday, October 28

Racer Arena

7:00 PM

Murray State

UT Martin

Photo by: Murray State Sports Information

Racers Come Back From 0-2 Deficit to Earn 3-2 Win Over UT Martin

10/28/2011 11:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

For the first time since Oct. 31, 2009, the Murray State volleyball team came back from a 0-2 deficit to earn a 3-2 (24-26, 19-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-11) win. This time the Racers (7-19, 7-8 OVC) defeated Ohio Valley Conference foe, UT Martin in Racer Arena. The win also marked the 200th career victory for head coach David Schwepker.

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MSU was led by senior Teresa Krog, who garnered her first career double-double. The Elgin, Ill., native tallied 15 kills and a career-best 13 digs, while adding a season-best .371 (15k-2e-35ta) hitting percentage. Freshman Beth Mahurin added a career-best 20 kills and four blocks. Senior Kayleah Sauer saw her second match of the season with 30+ digs, recording a season-high 33.

The first set was close throughout and was forced into extra points. The teams combined for 13 tie scores and eight lead changes, with no team leading by more than three points during the set. The score was 23-22, in favor of the Skyhawks (15-10, 10-5 OVC), when the Racers went on a 2-0 run and were going for set-point when UTM fought back and went on a 3-0 run to earn the 26-24 win.

The Skyhawks used the momentum they gained at the end of set one to start the second set with a 5-0 run that gave them the lead for the rest of the set. The Racers made several small 3-0 and 2-0 runs throughout the set, but could not cut the deficit to lower than two and eventually lost 25-19.

MSU came out of the intermission with new hair styles and a renewed energy. After allowing UTM to go up 4-1, the Racers went on a 7-0 run that not only gave them an 8-4 advantage, but also the lead for good. MSU secured control of the set with a 5-0 run that included two-straight service aces by Sauer and gave the Racers a 15-6 lead. The teams traded serves for the rest of the set, except for a few 2-0 Skyhawk runs, on the way to a 25-19 win for MSU.

Set four started out as a back-and-forth battle with 2-0 runs for each team. The Racers then went on a 2-0 run and took the lead. UTM kept the disadvantage to just one point for most of the first half of the set, until a 3-0 run gave the Racers a 12-8 lead and a 4-0 run pushed the advantage to 17-11. The Skyhawks did not give up and used several small runs throughout the rest of the set to force a 22-all tie. However, Mahurin responded for MSU with three-straight kills to give them the 25-22 win and force set five.

UTM took an early 2-0 lead in the final set and then traded serves and runs until the score was knotted at six. MSU then pulled away with a 3-0 run to take the lead for good. The Skyhawks cut the lead to one (9-8), but that was as close as they would get as two more 2-0 runs by MSU gave them the needed cushion to earn the 15-11 win.

The keys to the win for the Racers were in the digs and blocks columns. MSU tallied 107 digs to UTM's 95 and out-blocked the Skyhawks 10.5 to eight. The Racers also had a slight lead in the hitting percentage column, with a .237 (66k-21e-190ta) mark to a .204 (68k-23e-221ta) pace by UTM.

MSU will return to Racer Arena, Tuesday, Nov. 1 for a 7 p.m. match against Eastern Illinois before heading out for its final two road matches of the season at Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 4) and Morehead State (Nov. 5).

Notes: The Racers 107 digs marks the first time since Nov. 10, 2009 that the team has record 100 or more digs…sophomore Wendi Zickfield tallied a career-best seven block assists…the mark ties for the No. 5 spot on MSU individual block assists in a five-set match…the Racers had five players with 10-or-more digs in the match…Sauer had 33, Zickfield had a career-best 18, Krog and junior Lydia Orf tallied 13 and sophomore Katlyn Hudson added 12.