Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Jacksonville State
Players Mentioned
Volleyball Hosts Gamecocks and Golden Eagles
10/30/2014 9:34:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team will go up against Jacksonville State Friday night at 7 p.m. before going toe-to-toe against Tennessee Tech Saturday at 6 p.m. Both matches will take place at Racer Arena.
In the new NCAA RPI rankings, Murray State jumped five spots to take control of 125th. The Racers continue to be in national rankings both as a team and individually. As a team, MSU ranks in the top 20 in two statistics; 12th in digs per set (17.35), and 19th in match W-L percentage (.818). Murray State then ranks in four statistics in the top 50; 26th in kills per set (14.01), 27th in opponent hitting percentage (.154), 38th in assists per set (12.88), and 49th in hitting percentage (.250). Individually, Sam Bedard ranks 38th in assists per set (10.95) and 108th in total assists (810). Ellie Lorens ranks 43rd in digs per set (4.80) and totals digs (361). Scottie Ingram ranks 80th in kills per set (3.70) and 115th in points per set (3.99). Kristen Besselsen (3.65) and Taylor Olden (3.61) rank 205th and 219th in points per set, respectively.
Murray State swept SIU Edwardsville 3-0 before defeating Eastern Illinois 3-1 this weekend. Over the weekend, only one Racer notched a double-double; Besselsen turned in 13 kills to go along with a career-high 19 digs against EIU, while adding 10 digs against SIUE. Ingram led the Racers with 13 kills followed by Olden with 9 against the Cougars. Olden led the team with 15 kills, while Alyssa Lelm added 11 against the Panthers. Bedard recorded 79 assists over the weekend.
Overall, the Gamecocks have a nine-match winning streak against the Racers going into this weekend. Jacksonville State gave Morehead State their first win of the 2014 season last weekend in a five-set match. The next day, the Gamecocks defeated Eastern Kentucky 3-2. On Tuesday, JSU faced non-OVC opponent Alabama State and got the sweep. Emily Rutherford led the Gamecocks with 16 kills and 13 digs in a double-double performance against Morehead State. The following day, she led with her season-high 22 kills and 16 digs. Nicole Merget and Allyson Zuhlke turned in 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Samanatha Bohne picked up 21 digs. Against EKU, Merget totaled 18 kills, and Bohne had a season-best 30 digs. When facing Alabama State, Merget led JSU with a .789 attack percentage coming from 16 kills with only one error. Jennifer Hart dished out a 37 assists along with 10 digs.
Over the weekend, Tennessee Tech dropped to Eastern Kentucky 3-1 before defeating Morehead State 3-0. Cody Dodd led the Golden Eagles with 16 kills along with 15 digs. Sharon Anderson turned in 35 assists to go along with libero Courtney Smith recording 29 digs. In the sweep of Morehead State, Dodd led with 15 kills and a career-high seven service aces. Anderson dished out 29 assists while Madison Keyes put away eight kills. Jordan Wachowiak tallied a season-high eight blocks to help the team defensively while Smith turned in eight digs. After the weekend, Dodd was named OVC Offensive Player of the Week.Â
