Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
10-8 (4-2)
Eastern Kentucky
7-13 (2-4)
Racers Drop Five-Set Heartbreaker to EKU
10/12/2019 3:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team took on Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Saturday afternoon, falling to the Colonels in a hard-fought five set match.
MSU falls to 10-8 on the year and 4-2 in the OVC while EKU improves to 7-13 and 2-4 in conference play.
Rachel Giustino led the Racers with 21 kills while Rachel Holthaus added 15 of her own. Ashley McBee dished out 29 assists followed by Courtney Radle with 24 while Becca Fernandez led MSU with 24 digs.
The Racers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set, but EKU quickly responded, eventually tying the set at seven. The Colonels kept the momentum going as they took a 17-14 lead, but the Racers clawed their way back in as they tied the set at 20, forcing a timeout by Eastern Kentucky.
A couple of points later, Eastern Kentucky held a 23-21 lead before Holthaus and Giustino recorded back-to-back kills to tie the set at 23. EKU won the next point, but an ace by McBee tied the set before Giustino gave the Racers set point with her sixth kill of the stanza. On set point, the Racers played great defense, which included Fernandez almost running into the scorers table, before an error by the Colonels gave MSU the first set victory.
Murray State only hit .028 in the first set but took advantage of seven EKU service errors along with three service aces of their own.
In the second set, a 9-3 run by the Colonels put them up a 16-12, which proved to be enough cushion as the Racers were unable to tie the set back up as Eastern Kentucky eventually won the set, 25-19.
The third set was tight early until a 7-0 run by the Racers gave them a 14-6 lead. However, Eastern Kentucky slowly climbed all the way back, eventually winning the final five points of the set to win 26-24.
Similar to the first three sets, it remained tight early until a 3-0 run by the Racers gave MSU a 17-14 lead. It proved to be enough as the Racers wound up winning the set, 25-20.
In the fifth set, the two teams traded blows the entire set. The Racers saved five match points but the sixth one for the Colonels proved to be the winner as they earned the victory with their 18th block of the match.
