Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Davidson
Volleyball Heads to North Carolina for High Point Classic
9/19/2013 11:34:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Live Stats vs. Davidson | Live Stats at High Point | Video at High Point | Live Stats vs. North Carolina A&T
Match Notes | NCAA Individual Statistics
Coming off a road loss at Southern Illinois, the Racers will look to get back on track as they head to the High Point University Classic in a final tuneup before OVC play begins. At 7-4 the Racers are enjoying their finest start to a season since 2006 when they finished 19-8.
Murray State will open the tournament against Davidson Friday night at 6 p.m. They will continue with a pair of matches Saturday afternoon against host High Point (12 p.m.) and North Carolina A&T (4 p.m.).
Already this season, the Racers have seen their names pop up amongst the NCAA leaders. Through matches of Sep. 15, Alyssa Lelm ranks 100th in hitting percentage at .364, Katlyn Hudson is tied for 101st in aces per set with .39 and Sam Bedard sits at 131st in assists per set with 9.61.
In their latest match, Murray State traveled to Carbondale, Ill. to take on the Saluki's. The match was highly competitive in the first two sets with each team garnering a close win. Southern Illinois jumped on the board first with a 25-20 win after which the Racers matched them with a 25-22 victory.
The third and fourth sets however, were a much different story. MSU fell behind early and couldn't dig out of the hole they created dropping, the final two sets, 25-10 and 25-11. The Racers did themselves no favors by committing 21 attack errors, 15 in the final two sets, and hitting below .200% for the fourth time this season.
It wasn't all bad for Murray State however, freshman Kamille Jones set a new career-high with 14 kills. Alyssa Lelm finished with 10 kills and three blocks.
In their opening match Friday night, the Racers draw Davidson. The Wildcats are off to a hot start compiling a 6-3 record in their first nine matches. The Wildcats opened the season winning four games in a row before dropping three of their last five. Davidson went 1-2 at the Georgia State Invitational last weekend with a win over Georgia State (3-1) and losses to Buffalo (1-3) and Central Florida (1-3)
Caroline Brown leads the Wildcat offense with 115 kills. She is also a threat on the serve with 14 aces in nine matches. Brown has six double-doubles so far this season and opened the season with five straight double-digit kill efforts.
Defensively the Wildcats have a pair of athletes in the NCAA top 150. Anastasia Owen is ranked 119th with 4.22 digs per set and has a team-high 152 and Tindall Sewell's 1.12 blocks per set put her at 117th in the country.
The Wildcats also boast the reigning Southern Conference Setter of the Week in Mikayla Derochie. Derochie has 355 assists for the season and is just outside the top 100 at 101st in assists per set (9.86). Last week, Derochie handed out 123 assists in three matches to go along with five kills and 15 digs.
Saturday's doubleheader begins with host High Point. The Panthers are currently mired in a three game losing streak, dropping their last two at the Georgia Southern Invitational and a home match Tuesday to VCU. High Point finished with their best record in four years in 2012 at 20-11 on their way to a Big South Tournament appearance.
High Point currently has a pair of athletes with more than 100 kills. Chelsea Davis leads the team with 143 and Kristin Heldt is close behind with 113. Davis has double-digit kills in nine of 11 matches while Heldt has been more sporadic with two matches of 20-plus kills and two matches of four or less.
The Panther defense is led by defending Big South Defensive Player of the Week, Annemarie Chin. Chin racked up 99 digs and 6.60 digs per set in High Point's four matches last week. Chin's season average of 4.97 digs per set places her 27th in the NCAA.
The Panthers have another weapon in Maddie Simpson. Simpson ranks 18th in the NCAA in aces per set with .53, although she has been shut out in the category the last three matches.
The Racers will conclude the High Point Invitational with North Carolina A&T. This will be only the second time these schools have met, with the first coming two weeks ago. The Racers took home the Spartan-Aggie Invitational Title with a 3-1 win over the Aggies. Four Racers finished with double-digit kills led by Taylor Olden and Scottie Ingram's 14 and followed by Alyssa Lelm (12) and Emily Schmahl (10).
Since losing to Murray State at the Spartan-Aggie Invitational, North Carolina A&T has gone 0-5, as part of a seven game losing streak. The Aggies lone win this season came against Alabama State two weeks ago.
The Aggies offense is led by the duo of Aleena McDaniel and Brooke Stamnes. McDaniel has a team-best 103 kills while Stamnes has had the hot hand lately with 14 kills her last two matches. Stamnes also has a team-best 11 service aces.
The Aggie offense runs through setter Liz Martino. Martino's 198 assists lead the Aggies and she's also fourth on the team with 56 digs.
Following the match the Racers will begin their OVC slate with three straight road games. MSU will battle Tennessee Tech in their OVC opener Friday Sep. 27 then quickly turn around to face Jacksonville State Saturday Sep. 28. The road trip will conclude Tuesday Oct. 1 with a trip to Clarksville, Tenn to face Austin Peay.Â
