Murray State
0-1
Houston
1-0
Racers Battle Houston in Season Opener
8/24/2018 5:35:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
In their opening match of the season, the Murray State volleyball team fell to the Houston Cougars in three sets, Friday afternoon at the New Orleans Invitational.
Dacia Brown led the Racers with 10 kills, followed by Rachel Giustino with eight. Ashley McBee paced the team with 18 assists and Becca Fernandez had 11 digs. Katirah Johnson also contributed with three blocks.
Houston jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set before Brown gave the Racers their first point of the season with a kill. The redshirt-senior followed with another successful attack before Kolby McClelland registered her first-career kill to bring the score to 5-3, but that was as close as MSU would get in the first set, as Houston pulled away, eventually taking the set, 25-13.
In the second set, Murray State got off to a quick start, taking a 3-0 lead on two kills and a Cougar error, but Houston answered back, tying the set at four. Neither team could pull away early in the set as the score was tied six times in the first 22 points. The Cougars went on a mini 3-0 run to take a 14-11 lead, which proved to be enough cushion to take the set. MSU got within two at 20-18, but Houston proceeded to go on a 5-0 run to take the second set.
The Cougars took control of the third set early, building up a 15-7 lead. After a timeout, Murray State got back into the set, going on a 4-0 run and after some back-and-forth play, an error by Houston pulled the Racers back within three at 22-19, but three straight points by Houston ended the set and the match.
The Racers are back in action tomorrow in The Big Easy as they take on Omaha at 10 a.m, before closing the invitational at 5 p.m. with a match against host New Orleans.
