Murray State Picks Up First Win at NCCU Tournament

Saturday, August 31

Durham, N.C.

2:30 p.m.

Murray State

0-2

Hampton

3-0

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Murray State	26	25	20	25	1
Hampton	24	27	25	27	3

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Murray State	25	24	25	3
N.C. Central	14	13	13	0

Photo by: Murray State Sports Information

8/31/2013 9:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

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Murray State volleyball concluded their opening weekend tournament by splitting a pair of matches with Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents Hampton and North Carolina Central (NCCU). After losing a close battle with eventual tournament winners Hampton 3-1, (26-24, 25-27, 20-25, 25-27), the Racers easily picked up their first win of the season 3-0 over hosts NCCU (25-14, 25-12, 25-13).

Game Two vs. North Carolina Central (3-0 - 25-14, 25-12, 25-13)

MSU played the final two matches of the tournament and got stronger as the day went on. That the Racers were able to stay on the court following their match with Hampton, was an advantage for Coach Schwepker: "We played hard in the last match (with Hampton) and I wanted to make sure we came out and maintained that same aggressiveness".

The Racers jumped out to a commanding 8-2 lead in the first set and never looked back on their way to a 25-14 victory. The Racers hit a match best .393 in the set, connecting on 14 kills while committing only three errors.

Sets two and three were much the same as MSU opened up large leads early and never let the Eagles into back the match.

Alyssa Lelm led the Racers with a match-high 11 kills. Her .733 kill percentage (11-for-15) tied her for third all-time in MSU history (with at least 15 attempts). Following the tournament, Lelm was named to the All-Tournament team totaling 28 kills, ten digs, four blocks and two service aces.

After the match, Schwepker had this to say about Lelm, "She had a really good day. She's continuing to get stronger and her maturity is starting to show".

Scottie Ingram, Taylor Olden and Emily Schmahl each connected on seven kills in the match and Sam Bedard dished out a match-high 26 assists.

"It's always good to get wins early", said Schwepker. "There was a lot of improvement, even from the beginning of the tournament. We're getting better and building confidence with each match".

Game One vs. Hampton (3-0 - 26-24, 25-27, 20-25, 25-27)

MSU started the day taking on Hampton in a tightly contested matchup. The two teams were incredibly evenly matched, as evidenced by three of the four sets going into extra points.

The Racers were able to take the first set in a back-and-forth match. After the Pirates got to within match-point at 24-23, MSU came back to score the final three points and take the hard-fought set.

It seemed as the Racers were on the verge of going up 2-0 in the match, taking a 20-14 lead in the second set, but Hampton scored the next six points to even the set up. Sonja Maksimoviv landed three kills on the run, part of her 14 in the match.

After trading points the rest of the way, the Racers had a chance to end the set up 24-23 and again 25-24. But the Pirates were able to stave off defeat and scored three straight points, evening the match with a 27-25 victory.

The Pirates kept their momentum flowing in set number three, opening up a large 20-11 lead. They would go on to easily take the set 25-20.

Hampton again opened up a late lead in the fourth set 23-19, but Murray State fought back and tied the match on two occasions, 24-24 and 25-25. The comeback bid fell short though, as a pair of Petra Parros kills put MSU away 27-25.

Taylor Olden led the Racers with 15 kills and finished the tournament with a team-best 31.

Bedard recorded with her second double-double of the tournament, handing out a team-high 42 assists, while also tallying 12 digs.

Parros finished with 17 kills and was named to the All-Tournament team and teammate Vendula Strakova led the match with 25 kills, on her way to being named Tournament MVP.

The Racers will return to the court and the state of North Carolina next weekend at the Ashford-Suites Spartan/Aggie Invitational. MSU will battle tournament host UNC-Greensboro Friday night and Alabama State and North Carolina A&T on Saturday.