Racers End Skid, Sweep SIUE

Saturday, October 26

Racer Arena

2 p.m.

Murray State

13-11 (3-7,OVC)

SIU Edwardsville

9-14 (5-5,OVC)

Team	1	2	3	Final F
SIU Edwardsville	24	16	25	0
Murray State	26	25	27	3

Sam Bedard dished out 33 assists in a 3-0 win over SIUE

10/26/2013 4:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

After dropping a season-worst fourth consecutive match Friday against Eastern Illinois, Murray State volleyball came out firing Saturday afternoon, determined to get a win against SIU-Edwardsville. The Racers (13-11, 3-7 OVC) did just that, taking care of the Cougars in three sets, 26-24, 25-16, 27-25.

The Racers spread the ball around, getting contributions from all. Scottie Ingram led the team with 11 kills and completed the double-double with 13 digs. Sam Bedard's streak of five straight double-doubles came to an end. She still led the Racers with 33 assists and picked up nine digs.

These two squads were ranked in the NCAA top-10 in digs coming into the match and both played strong on the defensive end. The Racers came out on top in the battle of digs 63-51 and Ellie Lorenz led the way with a match-high 19. MSU also put back seven blocks, getting three apiece from Alyssa Lelm, Bedard and Kamille Jones.

Murray State scored the opening point and never trailed in the first set. That didn't mean it was an easy victory for the Racers. SIUE nearly pulled off a tremendous come back. Down 24-18, the Cougars scored six straight points to tie the set and send it into extra points. MSU took a 25-24 advantage on a Cougar attack error and put the set away with a kill from Emily Schmahl.

Neither team gained much of an advantage in the early stages of set No. 2. Trailing by one, 7-6, Murray State went on to score eight straight points to take a 14-7 lead. SIUE was able to trim the lead to three, 19-16, but Murray State closed the set scoring the final six points, getting a pair of kills from Taylor Olden and another from Jones during the run.

The third and final set was a frenzy that saw 15 ties and 10 lead changes. The set was a series of runs, as each team claimed four stretches of at least three consecutive points. Trailing 6-5, Murray State made the first run of the set, scoring five straight to take a 10-6 lead. The Cougars bounced right back to even the set at 10-all with a 4-0 run of their own. After Murray State regained a two point edge, 12-10, SIUE saw another 4-0 spurt to retake the lead, 14-12. The Cougars would extend their lead to four, 18-14, their largest of the set. It was now the Racers turn to rattle off four consecutive points, evening the set at 18-apiece. Similar to the first set, MSU found themselves at match-point but could put SIUE away. The Cougars rallied down 24-22 to retake the lead, 25-24. With a fourth set looming, the Racers scored the final three points on kills from Olden and Ingram and a Lorenz service ace to end the match and sweep the Cougars.

Following the match, coach Schwepker spoke about the differences between last night's match and today's, "Our passing was much better. It was a lot crisper and it allowed for our hitters to be in the right position. If your passing is off it makes everything more difficult, but we did a much better job of that today and were able to come out with a much-needed win."

Cori Harris led the Cougars with a match-high 13 kills. Chelsea Colclasure finished with 17 digs and Mallory Mangun dished out a match-high 36 assists.

The Racers continue their four-game homestand next weekend as they welcome Tennessee State to Racer Arena Friday. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.