Southern Illinois Rallies To Top Volleyball in 3-2 Heartbreaker

Tuesday, October 2

Racer Arena

7:00 p.m.

Murray State

3-11

Southern Illinois

14-3

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Southern Illinois	20	23	25	25	15	3
Murray St.	25	25	13	18	11	2

Photo by: Murray State Sports Information

Southern Illinois Rallies To Top Volleyball in 3-2 Heartbreaker

10/2/2012 9:57:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Southern Illinois rallied from a 2-0 deficit to top Murray State volleyball, 20-25, 23-25, 25-13, 25-18, 15-11, in a non-conference match on Tuesday night at Racer Arena.

In the first set, the Racers jumped out to an early advantage and led by as many as three, at 10-7. However, from there the Salukis went on a 7-2 run and took a 14-12 lead. After a well-placed MSU timeout, the Racers took back control of the set and secured the win by ending the frame on a 13-6 run of its own. Senior Beth Mahurin (Rockville, Ind.) led the Racers with six kills in the set, including the 25th and final point.

The second set was more of the same, as the two teams traded points back and forth. Neither team was able to build more than a three point lead in the frame and once again the two schools found themselves tied up late in the set. With the score tied at 21, the Racers used an ace from freshman Sam Bedard (Breese, Ill.), kills from freshman Taylor Olden (Lincoln, Ill.) and senior Wendi Zickfield (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) and a Southern Illinois error to take the 2-0 match lead with a 25-23 set win. Olden and Zickfield also played key roles throughout the set by pacing MSU with six kills each.

The Salukis found their offensive stroke in the third set and used a 12-3 run to end the frame and pull within one in the match. Southern Illinois hit .250 in the set, while limiting the Racers to -.167. Freshman Alyssa Lelm (Mackinaw, Ill.), Olden, Mahurin and Zickfield accounted for all eight MSU kills in the set, with each notching two.

Southern Illinois continued its comeback in the fourth set by using by jumping out to an early 9-4 lead. However, the Racers mounted a comeback and pulled within one at 12-11. That was as close as MSU would get in the set, as the Salukis ended the frame on a 13-7 run to force a decisive fifth set. Zickfield once again came up big for Murray State and led the offense with four kills in the set.

In the fifth set, the Racers once again fell behind early and allowed Southern Illinois to jump out to an 8-2 lead. MSU attempted to rally in the middle of the set with an 8-3 run, but eventually fell 15-11 to give the Salukis the come-from-behind 3-2 match win.

Zickfield led three Racers in double-figures with a season-high 18 kills, while Olden and Mahurin followed with 14 and 12, respectively. Senior Lydia Orf (St. Louis, Mo.) and junior Katlyn Hudson (Columbus, Ill.) paced the defense with 17 digs each.

After the match, head coach David Schwepker talked about how they will use the experience going forward.

“After the match, we talked about how we have to learn from this,” said Schwepker. “We saw tendencies; we took care of some part of the tendencies and forced them to do some of the things we wanted them to do. We just didn't finish at the end of it. We just need to learn from and if we can we will be fine.”

Murray State will resume OVC action this weekend with a pair of west division rivalry matches. The Racers will travel to UT Martin for a showdown with the Skyhawks on Friday, followed by a trip to division-leading Southeast Missouri on Saturday. Game times are at 7 p.m., and 2 p.m., respectively.