Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Fort Wayne
Players Mentioned
Racers Open 2016 at Fort Wayne Invitational
8/25/2016 9:45:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dates: Aug. 26-27, 2016
Match Times: 26th – 6 p.m., 27th – 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Opponents: Fort Wayne, Ball State and Youngstown State
Site (Venue): Fort Wayne, Ind. (Gates Sports Center)
Host (Tournament): Fort Wayne (Fort Wayne Invitational Sponsored by Hyatt Place)
Watch Live: All six matches for $9.95 or a single match for $5.95
Live Stats
MSU Record (Streak): 0-0 (--)
MSU vs. The Field: 5-9
All-Time Series vs. FW (Streak): Fort Wayne leads 3-1 (W1)
All-Time Series vs. BSU: Ball State leads 1-0 (L1)
All-Time Series vs. YSU: Youngstown State leads 5-4 (W1)
MSU Next Matches: Sept. 2-3 - Oregon Tournament (Oregon, UC Davis and San Diego State)
MSU Next Home Match: Sept. 23 vs. UT Martin
This Weekend
The Murray State volleyball team opens its 2016 slate with a three-game series at the Fort Wayne Invitational in Fort Wayne, Ind., hosted by Fort Wayne (formerly IPFW). The Racers open the tournament Friday against Fort Wayne at 6 p.m. Saturday they will face Ball State at 9 a.m. and close the tournament against Youngstown State at 3 p.m.
The Racers last faced Fort Wayne last season when they swept the Mastodons 25-14, 25-17 and 25-19 at the Indiana State Holiday Inn Classic. The sweep was the first victory in program history against the Mastodons. This will be just the second-ever meeting with Ball State. The first came in 2011, a 0-3 loss. Meanwhile, MSU faces Youngstown State for the first time since 2005, when they swept the Penguins at Racer Arena.
2015 Recap
The Racers set a program record for wins for the second consecutive season in 2015, going 27-3 and 15-1 in the OVC. MSU's historic season came to an end in the championship match of the OVC Tournament in November, losing 3-1 to Belmont. The loss snapped the Racers' program record 21-match home winning streak.
Scottie Ingram became just the sixth player in league history to win back-to-back OVC Player of the Year honors last season. Ingram was second in the conference with 4.06 kills per set and hit .250 on the season. Sam Bedard was named OVC Setter of the Year a season ago and Kristen Besselsen was named to the All-OVC Team as well.
Preseason Poll
MSU was picked to finish second in the preseason OVC poll, as voted on by the league's coaches and SIDs. The Racers received a total of 227 points and six first-place votes in the poll. 2015 OVC Tournament champion Belmont was picked as the preseason favorite after getting 16 first-place votes.
Besselsen and Ingram were automatically placed on the Preseason All-OVC Team after receiving all-conference honors the year before. Libero Ellie Lorenz joins the duo on the 2016 preseason team.
Scouting Fort Wayne
The Mastodons return 2015 Summit League Freshman of the Year Nicole Rightnowar who was second on the team with 337 kills last season. Somer Johnson led Fort Wayne with 442 kills in 2015 and was named honorable mention All-Summit League last year. Setter Madison Jaqua joined Rightnowar on the All-Freshman Team in the conference. Jaqua led the Mastodons with 1,078 assists a season ago. Fort Wayne is led by Head Coach Steve Florio who is in his third season leading the program.
Scouting Ball State
The Cardinals look to replace 2015 First Team All-MAC setter Jenna Spadafora after she recorded 1,203 assists last season. Ball State also lost its top two offensive weapons from a season ago in Kelly Hopkins and Alex Fuelling who recorded 262 and 241 kills, respectively in 2015. Mackenzie Kitchel is the top returner for BSU after registering 185 kills last season, the third-best mark on the team. Ball State lost six seniors from its squad a season ago. The Cardinals also have a new coach in Kelli Miller who was elevated to the top position on the bench after spending the previous six seasons as an assistant at BSU.
Scouting Youngstown State
The Penguins return 2015 Horizon League All-Freshman Team member in middle blocker Sarah Varcolla who was third on the team with 236 kills last season. YSU also returns hitter Sam Brown who was second on the team with 255 kills last year. The Penguins also return their top setter from last season in Val Jeffery who accumulated 1,114 assists in 2015. Youngstown State is led by fifth-year Head Coach Mark Hardaway.
Following the Racers
This weekend's tournament can be watched live HERE. All of the matches will be streamed on the Fort Wayne website via PPV. There is a tournament option for all six matches for $9.95. Single matches (24 hours) are $5.95. Only the Fort Wayne matches will have broadcasters, non-Fort Wayne matches will only be video with ambient noise. All of MSU's matches this weekend will have live stats available HERE.
