Racers Crowned Champions at Spartan-Aggie Invitational

Saturday, September 7

Greensboro, N.C.

10 a.m.

Murray State

3-2

Alabama State

1-5

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Alabama State	16	14	19	0
Murray State	25	25	25	3

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Murray State	20	25	25	25	3
North Carolina A&T	25	10	20	18	1

Racers Crowned Champions at Spartan-Aggie Invitational

9/8/2013 4:22:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Murray State Racer volleyball team picked up two more wins on Saturday and were crowned Tournament Champions at the Spartan-Aggie Invitational in Greensboro, N.C. MSU knocked off Alabama State (3-0) and North Carolina A&T (3-1) in addition to their win Friday night over University of North Carolina Greensboro. The two wins improve the Racers record to 4-2 and the team has now racked up four consecutive wins, their longest winning streak since a six game winning streak in 2009.

The action started early on Saturday as the Racers downed the Lady Hornets in straight sets 25-16, 25-14, 25-19. After trailing early in the opening set, the Racers stormed back to tie the score at 9-9 before going on a 16-7 run to end the set.

The Racers had no issues in set number two, taking control early en route to a 25-14 win. The third set was a much tighter affair with the two squads combining for 10 ties and seven lead changes. MSU was able to pull a head from a 14-all tie with a 7-0 run and never looked back, taking the set 25-19.

Emily Schmahl came off the bench to land a team-best nine kills. Alyssa Lelm, Taylor Olden and Scottie Ingram each put down seven-apiece and Sam Bedard picked up another double-double with a game-high 19 assists and 13 digs. Her 13 digs tied her for the game-best with teammate, Katlyn Hudson.

A few hours later the Racers were back on the court to take on North Carolina A&T. MSU showed some rust from the midday layoff, dropping the opening set 20-25. The Aggies used a 4-0 run to take a 12-7 lead and never trailed again, taking an early 1-0 advantage.

The rest of the match was all Racers. Holding just a four-point 14-10 lead in the second set, the Racers scored the next 11 points, including three kills each by Lelm and Olden, to even up the match, 1-1.

Murray State opened up a ten-point lead, 21-11 lead in set number three before the Aggies cut that in half with a 5-0 run. North Carolina A&T would get to within four but no closer, as the Racers to thwarted the comeback bid with a 25-20 win.

A 6-0 MSU run to break a 5-5 tie helped the Racers close the match with a 25-18 win. The Aggies were able to cut a one-time six point lead to three at 20-17, but couldn't over take Murray State as a pair of kills by both Olden and Ingram and an attack error ended the match.

Olden and Ingram led the Racers with 14 kills. Lelm and Schmahl also finished in double-figures with 12 and 10 respectively. Lelm also finished with a career-best nine digs. Hudson led the Racers with a game-high 14 digs and Bedard handed out a game-best 38 assists.

About the tournament coach Dave Schwepker said, "This was a good test for us. We worked on some of our weaknesses from last week and I saw improvement. That means the team is serious about winning and willing to fix their weaknesses".

Following the match, Lelm, Olden and Bedard were each named to the All-Tournament team. Lelm was also named Tournament MVP after finishing with 35 kills, 10 blocks and 16 digs over the three-game tournament. She also finished with a strong attack percentage of .361.

Olden knocked down 31 kills while also serving up a pair of aces and digging out 19 balls. Bedard led the tournament dishing out 105 assists, including a career best 48 against UNC Greensboro. She also finished with 35 digs and seven kills.

The Racers will open their home slate with a non-conference match against Evansville Tuesday, Sept. 10. MSU fell to the Purple Aces last weekend in their season opener at the NCCU Invitational. First serve is set for 7:00 pm at Racer Arena.