Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Sacramento State
Racers Fall in Pair of Matches at Belmont Invitational
8/27/2011 6:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
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Sophomore Wendi Zickfield was named to the seven-member all-tournament team after producing a .272 (29k-7e-81ta) hitting percentage, 29 digs and two blocks over the three-match tournament.
Match One – vs. Sacramento State
Box Score
In the opening set of the day, the Racers fell to Sacramento State 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 17-25, 11-25) and the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tenn.
MSU was led by a trio of players that all recorded their first career double-doubles. Senior Kayleah Sauer earned hers with 22 digs and a career-high 11 kills. Junior Lia Havili recorded 39 assists and 16 digs. Sophomore Wendi Zickfield also got in the action with career bests of 12 kills and 16 digs. Senior Teresa Krog also added 10 kills, as the third member of the team in double-digit kills.
The first set was a battle, but a 5-0 run at the start allowed Sacramento State to control the tempo of the set. The Racers kept pushing throughout and pulled within one point (14-15) in the middle of the set, but the Hornets again pulled away with a 4-0 run and earned the 25-20 win.
The second set was a battle from the start to finish. The teams fought through nine tie scores and five lead changes. MSU took the first lead with a 3-0 run, but the Hornets used two 3-0 runs to regain the advantage (8-10). Sacramento State kept the lead or a tie score until late in the set when a Racers 9-2 run gave MSU the lead for good (24-21). The Hornets kept set point from MSU for two points before committing a service error to give the Racers the 25-23 win.
The Racers took the early lead in the third set, 7-5, but a 4-0 run by Sacramento State gave them the lead for the rest of the way. The Hornets used three small runs the rest of the set to push for a 25-17 win.
Sacramento State took control of the fourth set right from the start, with a 4-0 run that they never relinquished on the way to a 25-11 win.
Serving and blocking were keys to the win for the Hornets, as they held distinct advantages in both categories. Sacramento State tallied 10 service aces to the Racers one and garnered six blocks to MSU's three. The Racers did have a slight lead in the digs column (93/92).
Match Two – vs. Western Kentucky
Box Score
The Racers dropped the second set of the day, 3-0 (22-25, 14-25, 19-25), to Western Kentucky.
Senior Teresa Krog led the team, with a team-best 13 kills and a .296 (13k-5e-27ta) hitting percentage and added three digs. Sophomore Wendi Zickfield added 10 kills and a .240 (10k-4e-25ta) attack percentage.
The first set was a back-and-forth battle, with seven ties and four lead changes. The Racers took the first large lead of the set with a 4-0 run that gave them a 9-6 lead. The Lady Toppers then used several small runs and then a 3-0 run to take a 17-16 advantage. MSU tied the set up again at 16 and 17 before a 2-0 run by WKU gave them the final advantage in the set. The Racers held off set-point for two serves before falling 25-22.
After a tie score at one, the Lady Toppers used a 5-1 run to take the lead for good in the second set. WKU used several small runs throughout the set to earn the 25-14 win.
WKU took control of the final set again early with a 6-1 run that gave them a five-point lead. The Racers battled back to get within two (11-13), but another 2-0 run gave the Lady Toppers a four-point advantage back that they grew to as many as seven on their way to a 25-19 win.
The Lady Toppers earned key advantages in hitting percentage and blocks in the match. WKU tallied a .247 (39k-15e-97ta) hitting percentage to the Racers .065 (32k-25e-108ta) and out-blocked MSU 12-6.
The Racers will be in action again next weekend at the Marriott Volley Brawl tournament in Valparaiso, Ind. MSU will face host Valparaiso, Friday, Sep. 2 at 11:30 a.m. and then Texas A&M Corpus Christi at 4:30 p.m. The second day of the tournament will feature matches against Evansville (9 a.m.) and Ball State (2 p.m.).
