Volleyball Heads to Chattanooga Classic

Racer volleyball will travel to Chattanooga, Tennessee for their third weekend tournament. Murray State will face Mississippi Valley on Friday at 2:00 p.m. to open the tournament. Then they will face Wright State at 9:00 a.m. and tournament host Chattanooga on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

Murray State went 3-0 last weekend at the Liberty Invitational, taking the Invite Championship. MSU now holds a 6-0 record. This is the first time Murray State has started their season 6-0.

After the Liberty Invitational, Taylor Olden was named Tournament MVP, while Scottie Ingram and Kristen Besselsen were named to the All-Tournament Team. Sam Bedard was named Ohio Valley Conference Setter of the Week.

Olden has three 10-plus kill games, 14 against Alabama State, 19 against Liberty, 14 USC Upstate. She currently leads the team in kills with 69, and attacks with an average of 3.45 kills per set.

Besselsen has three double-doubles against Alabama State (14 kills, 15 digs), Liberty (14 kills, 15 digs), and Howard (13 kills, 12 digs). She also set career-highs during the Liberty Invitational for digs (15), blocks (6), and assists (6).

Ingram recorded one double-double of 22 kills and 16 digs against Liberty. Currently, she averages 2.05 kills and 2.35 digs per set. Ellie Lorenz leads defensively for digs with 86. She averages 4.30 digs per set while recording five 10-plus dig matches.

Bedard recorded 112 assists during the Liberty Invitational along with two double-doubles. She had 48 assists and 17 digs against Liberty, while having 32 assists and 15 digs against USC Upstate. She averages 10.70 assists per set while hitting .273. She leads the team in assists and service aces (nine).

Mississippi Valley has started their season 1-4, with their latest win coming off of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Devilettes defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3-2. They started their season with three losses coming from the North Texas Invitational where they were swept by Missouri, North Texas, and Northwestern State. MSU will face MVSU for the first time this weekend.

Halee Clark leads the Devilettes with 15 kills, followed by Halle Gayten with 10 kills. Alexandria Garland leads the team with 33 assists with an average of 2.75 assists per set. Steffi Rodriguez and Biana Watkins help defensively by averaging 1.83 and 1.67 digs per set, respectively.

Wright State started their season 2-6, with their latest loss coming off Eastern Kentucky (1-3). The Raiders have participated in the Holiday Inn Classic falling to Indiana State, and adding a pair of wins to North Carolina A&T and Chicago State. They also competed in the Flyer-Raider Invitational while falling to all three opponents: Eastern Kentucky, Dayton, and Bowling Green. The Racers last faced the Raiders last year at Wright State and won 3-1.

Jessie Thornton, who was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Flyer-Raider Invitational, leads the team with 147 digs. Maddie Lohmeier adds 261 assists to the team while Katie Klusman leads the Raiders with 83 kills.

Chattanooga started their season 2-6, with their latest win coming off of UAB at a mid-week match on Tuesday. The Mocs has competed in the Husky Classic and Bulldog Invitational. During the Husky Invitational, Chattanooga lost a pair of matches against Tulsa and Northern Arizona, while defeating Houston Baptist. They fell to all three opponents, Georgia, College of Charleston, and Belmont, during the Bulldog Invitational. Murray State will face the Mocs for the first time since 1998.

Lauren Greenspoon leads the team with 152 assists, followed by Anne Bachmann who added 75 assists. Kristy Wieser leads the Mocs with 69 kills, and an average of 2.65 kills per set. Catherine Chason adds an average of 4.27 digs per set.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Bedard

Kristen Besselsen

Scottie Ingram

Ellie Lorenz

Taylor Olden

Murray State University Athletics