Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eastern Illinois
Racers Face EIU in Semifinals Friday
11/16/2017 5:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Date: Nov. 17, 2017
Match Time: 2:30 p.m.
Opponent: Eastern Illinois
Site: Clarksville, Tenn.
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Live Stats
Tournament Homepage
MSU Record (Streak): 21-8 (W6)
EIU Record (Streak): 15-14 (W1)
All-Time Series vs. EIU: The all-time series is tied at 24-24
Friday
The No. 3 seed Murray State volleyball team faces seventh-seeded Eastern Illinois in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament in Clarksville, Tenn. Both teams won in four sets in their opening round contests Thursday. MSU defeated Jacksonville State while EIU upset the No. 2 seed SIU Edwardsville. The Racers have won four straight against the Panthers with each of the last three coming in four sets.
First Round
Callie Anderton set a career-high with 57 assists and also added 14 digs to help lead the Racers past JSU in the first round. Rachel Holthaus had a match-high 16 kills in the win and also set a career-high with seven total blocks while hitting .400. Rachel Giustino had 15 kills, 10 digs and four block assists while Katirah Johnson added 12 kills, tying a career-high and hit .476. Becca Fernandez tied a career-high with 29 digs in the match.
All-OVC Honors
Wednesday at the OVC Tournament banquet, a trio of Racers took home All-OVC honors as Rachel Giustino and Rachel Holthaus both were named to the first team. Katirah Johnson was named the Freshman of the Year in the league and was a second team honoree.
Scouting Eastern Illinois
The Panthers have a well-balanced offensive attack as Maria Brown and Laurel Bailey lead Eastern Illinois with 284 and 280 kills, respectively on the season. However, EIU boasts 2017 First Team All-OVC honorees in Taylor Smith and Allie Hueston who are third and fourth on the squad, respectively with 262 and 237 kills. Hueston leads the team with a .324 hitting percentage while Smith has a team-high 627 assists. In the back row, Anne Hughes leads the OVC in digs per set with 4.93. As a team, the Panthers are hitting .198 and have 244.5 blocks.
