Volleyball Drops Pair of Heartbreakers at IPFW Invitational

Saturday, August 25

Fort Wayne, Ind.

10 a.m.

Murray State

0-2

Kent State

1-1

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Murray St.	17	22	25	0
Kent St.	25	25	27	3

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Murray St.	19	28	20	16	1
Cleveland St.	25	26	25	25	3

Volleyball Drops Pair of Heartbreakers at IPFW Invitational

8/25/2012 12:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Box Score vs. Kent St. (PDF)

Box Score vs. Cleveland St. (PDF)

The Murray State volleyball team lost a pair of hard-fought matches to Kent State and Cleveland State on Saturday, as it concluded play at the Hyatt Place Fort Wayne/IPFW Invitational in Fort Wayne, Ind.

In the first match, despite a late surge in the second set and a third set that went to extra points, the Murray State volleyball team fell in straight sets to Kent State on Saturday morning.

In the first set, the Racers (0-2) kept it close for most of the frame, but were unable to recover from an early 8-2 deficit and fell to the Golden Flashes, 25-17.

The second set saw Kent State (1-1) once again take an early lead and hold a 7-1 advantage over the Racers. However, MSU was able to notch the next six points and tie the game at seven. From that point, the game went back and forth with Murray State taking the lead on three separate occasions until the game was tied at 20.

With the score tied, the Golden Flashes finished the game on a 5-2 run to take a two set to none advantage.

In the final set, the Racers held the lead for majority of the match, even leading 15-10 at one point. Despite the lead, the Golden Flashes were able to battle back and take a 21-19 advantage. However, the Racers used two kills from freshman Emily Schmahl (Edgewood, Ky.), one from junior Michelle Lazorchak (Marion, Ill.) and an ace from senior Lia Havili (Haltom City, Texas) to take re-take the lead at 24-22

Despite several opportunities, Murray State was unable to close the Golden Flashes out and dropped the final set, 27-25, giving Kent State the 3-0 match win.

Schmahl led all players in the match with 15 kills, while freshman Jodie Klein (Louisville, Ky.) led the Racers with 10 digs. Havili added a team-high 31 assists, while Lazorchak notched one solo block and six block assists to finish the match with seven total.

In the second match against Cleveland State, the Racers once again fell behind early in the opening set, but were able to battle back and knot the score at nine. With the Racers trailing by one at 13-12, the Vikings scored the next four points and built a lead MSU was never able to recover from to give them a 25-19 opening set win.

In set number two, the Racers came out firing on all cylinders and took an early 9-3 lead. Despite MSU's best effort the Vikings kept coming and eventually forced the set into extra points. With the set on the line and tied at 26, Schmahl and fellow freshman Kristen Besselsen (St. Louis, Mo.) recorded the next two kills to give the Racers the 28-26 win and hand Cleveland State its first set loss of the season.

In the third set, the two teams started off matching each other point for point. However, late in the set, the Vikings scored four straight points to take an 18-13 lead and give them the cushion they needed to grind out a 25-20 victory.

Trailing 2-1 in the match, the Racers were unable to get out to the fast start that had helped them so much in the second frame and fell, 25-16. The match win advanced Cleveland State to 3-0 on the year, while MSU dropped to 0-3.

Even in the loss there were several bright spots for Murray State, including Besselsen's first collegiate double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs. Also putting up big numbers for the Racers in the tournament finale were Schmahl with 13 kills, freshman Jodie Klein (Louisville, Ky.) with 19 digs, junior Katlyn Hudson (Columbus, Ind.) with 16 digs and Havili with 41 assists. Havili also finished the match just one dig shy of her own double-double with nine.

After the Cleveland State match head coach David Schwepker commented on Saturday's matches.

“This morning was better than yesterday,” said Schwepker. “However, in the evening game I thought we made a lot of improvements. We adjusted the line-up for the match and we were not making the same mistakes we made yesterday or even earlier today. This week, we will work really hard to get ready for next weekend and hopefully, we can keep getting better.”

Following the tournament Schmahl was named to the all-tournament team. The freshman finished the weekend with 31 kills or 3.44 kills per set for a team-high attack percantage of .224

Up next for the Racers is LaQuinta Inn & Suites Highlander Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Radford, Va. While in the other Commonwealth, Murray State will take on St. Francis (PA), The Citadel and hosts, Radford.