Volleyball Downs Tennessee Tech In OVC Opener

Friday, September 21

Racer Arena

7:00 p.m.

Murray State

3-7, 1-0OVC

Tennessee Tech

2-11, 0-1OVC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Tennessee Tech	27	15	13	0
Murray St.	29	25	25	3

Photo by: Murray State Sports Information

9/21/2012 10:46:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

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The Murray State volleyball swept Tennessee Tech in its home and OVC opener, 29-27, 25-15, 25-13, on Friday night at Racer Arena.

The first set was a battle for the match momentum, as Tennessee Tech (2-11, 0-1 OVC) matched almost every early run by the Racers. After trailing, 20-14 late in the set, the Golden Eagles pushed back and cut the lead to just one point at 20-19. From that point, the two team traded points back-and-forth with Tennessee Tech finally getting to set point at 25-24. However, Murray State (3-7, 1-0 OVC) continued to battle and, thanks to kills from three different Racers, took the opening frame, 29-27.

While the first set may have been back-and-forth, the final two sets were all Murray State. The Racers opened the second set on a huge 12-1 run, that was powered by four aces from junior Katlyn Hudson (Columbus, Ind.). Her four aces were a new career-high, having previously had two in six different matches. Murray State closed the set out on a 6-3 run, to take it, 25-15.

In the third set, it was more of the same as the Racers built an early lead and used it propel to them throughout. Leading by as many as nine at one point in the frame, the Racers limited the Golden Eagles to just three of the final 11 points of the match and secured the sweep with a 25-13 victory.

For the sixth straight match, freshman Taylor Olden (Lincoln, Ill.) led MSU in kills, with 16, while fellow freshman Emily Schmahl (Edgewood, Ky.) followed closely behind with 15 of her own.

Hudson led the Racer defensive unit on the night with a season-high 21 digs, while Alyssa Lelm (Mackinaw, Ill.) finished with a team-high four blocks.

As a team, Murray State finished with 10 aces, marking the first time it has posted a double-digit performance in that category since Oct. 23, 2010, at home against Austin Peay, when it also notched 10.

Sophomore Ellen Conti (Grove City, Ohio) led the Golden Eagles with 10 kills, while senior Kelsey Gray (Newark, Ohio) followed with nine and seven blocks.

Following the game, head coach David Schwepker talked about one of the keys of the match.

“I was glad to see our kids play aggressive,” said Schwepker. “Since last weekend our focus has been on being aggressive. That is what we saw tonight and that's what we wanted to see whether we won or lost. I was especially pleased with how we handled ourselves in the third set, because that would be a time where a team could come out and let its guard down. However, we didn't do that and stayed aggressive all the way though.”

The Racers will return to action at Racer Arena on Saturday when they host Jacksonville State (6-8) in another OVC affair at 2 p.m.