Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Belmont
Racers Welcome Belmont and Tennessee State for Homecoming Weekend
10/17/2019 10:13:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dates:Â Oct. 18-19, 2019
Match Times:Â 6 p.m.
Opponents:Â Belmont and Tennessee State
Site:Â Murray, Ky.
Venue: Racer Arena
Live Stats:Â Belmont | TSU
Live Video:Â Belmont | TSU
MSU Record (Streak): 10-8Â (L1)
All-Time Series vs. Belmont (Streak): 9-4 (W3)
All-Time Series vs. Tennessee State (Streak): 47-10 (W6)
MSU Next Matches: Oct. 25 and 26 – at Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech
MSU Next Home Matches: Nov. 1 and 2 - vs. SIUE and EIU
This Weekend
The Racers look to bounce back after a tough loss to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday when they take on Belmont and Tennessee State this weekend at Racer Arena as part of Homecoming Weekend. First serve for both matches is set for 6 p.m. and can be available to stream on ESPN+.
Last Weekend
The Racers traveled to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday for a matchup with the Colonels. MSU won the first set but dropped the next two before winning the fourth. In the fifth set, the Racers saved six match points, but were unable to put together a string of points as they ultimately fell, 21-19. 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.
NCAA Leaderboard
Rachel Giustino is among the nation's leaders in a couple of categories as she is second in total kills with 367 and fourth in kills per set at 5.37. Becca Fernandez is also in the top 20 in digs per set with 5.20, currently 19th in the nation.
Double Honors
For the first time this season, the Racers had multiple OVC weekly award winners as Rachel Giustino (4th of the year) and Becca Fernandez (2nd time) took home Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively. Giustino averaged 5.67 kills per set while Fernandez recorded 5.22 digs per set.
1,500 Kills
Rachel Giustino recorded her 1500th kill against Austin Peay, just the second player in program history to reach the milestone. She is currently at 1,521 kills, just 77 away from Scottie Ingram's school record of 1,598, set in 2016.
Battle of the Border
The Racers kicked off the 2019-20 Battle of the Border, October 9th and picked up three points in the process with a four-set win. It is the fourth year of the Battle of the Border, with Murray State winning the first three.
Giustino for Three
For the third time in six weeks this season, Rachel Giustino was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week. Against UT Martin and SEMO, the senior averaged 6.83 kills per set while hitting .326.
Secretary of Defense
Junior Becca Fernandez was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 30 after averaging 7.67 digs per set in two sweeps over EIU and SIUE. After tallying 19 digs against the Panthers, she notched 27 digs at SIUE for an average of nine per set.
Giustino Joins 1,000/1,000 Club
With her seven digs against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, Rachel Giustino surpassed the 1,000 dig milestone, becoming just the 19th Racer in history to join the club. Even more exclusively, she became just the ninth player in program history to have over 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
30-20 Vision
Senior Rachel Giustino became the first Racer in the rally-scoring era to have a 30-20 match as she recorded 31 kills and 22 digs in a win over Bradley at the UIC Invitational. This wrapped a weekend where she averaged 5.69 kills and 3.31 digs per set en route to winning OVC Offensive Player of the Week.
McBee Claims OVC Honor
Junior setter Ashley McBee also had a strong weekend at the Troy Invitational, averaging 10.91 sets, earning her OVC Setter of the Week. She had her second 50-assist performance of the season in just four sets against Chattanooga and followed that up with 46 assists in a win over Jacksonville. She wrapped up the weekend with 35 assists in three sets against Troy.
Giustino Shines
Senior Rachel Giustino had a strong weekend at the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational as she was named to the All-Tournament Team and OVC Offensive Player of the Week after posting 61 kills and 39 digs in 12 sets played. She especially had strong performances against Valpo with 24 kills and 18 digs and IUPUI with 28 kills and 15 digs.
2018Â Recap
The Racers came into the 2018 season as the preseason OVC favorites but struggled out of the gate. After going 6-6 in non-conference play, MSU opened OVC action with three straight losses. However, that would be the last defeat for the Racers until the NCAA Tournament, winning 16 straight to match a program record, culminating with a straight-set victory over Austin Peay in the OVC Tournament title match in Clarksville. The season and winning streak came to a close when the Racers fell to the #10 Kentucky in the first round of The Big Dance.
Experience
Murray State will depend on the upperclassmen this season as they have a combined ten juniors and seniors as well as a redshirt-sophomore. The Racers will be led by returning All-OVC players Rachel Giustino, Becca Fernandez, and Rachel Holthaus. Giustino led the OVC with 4.05 kills per set while also contributing 3.31 digs per set. With 136 more digs, she will become just the ninth Racer to be in the 1,000 kill/1,000 dig club and will also have a chance to become the all-time leader in kills. Fernandez was named 2018 OVC Defensive Player of the Year after tallying 5.89 digs per set during OVC play while Holthaus led the Racers with a .280 hitting percentage. MSU will also have experience at setter as both Ashley McBee and Callie Anderton have over 1,100 assists in their career.
New Faces
The Racers welcome three new additions to Murray this season, as Emma Kailiponi and Alysha Smith join the team as freshmen while Courtney Swafford transfers in from LaGrange College. Kailiponi and Swafford are both liberos from Anaheim, California and Ooletawah, Tennessee, respectively, while Smith is an outside hitter who hails from the Sin City.
Preseason Poll
The Racers were tabbed as favorites in the preseason OVC poll collecting 230 points and 12 first-place votes. Defending OVC regular-season champion Austin Peay was picked second with 212 points and six first-place votes. Morehead State collected five first-place votes while Jacksonville State picked up one as well to finish third and fourth in the poll.
Scouting Belmont
The Bruins enter the weekend 1-5 in conference play with their lone win coming over Eastern Illinois. Halee Van Poppel leads the  team with 3.21 kills per set  followed by Mary Catherine Ball with 2.51. Akia Warrior and Carly Mason split setting duties as they each average over six assists per set. On defense, they have a good balance of back row players as they have five players averaging over two digs per set, led by Peyton Kelly with 2.57 while Kailee Bass leads the team with 0.89 blocks per set.
Scouting Tennessee State
The Tigers enter the weekend having lost three straight matches, including getting swept by both Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech last weekend. Julia Pierson leads the team with 2.71 kills per set followed by Aniya Williams with 2.08 kills per set. Four different TSU players average more than two assists per set led by Teuila Lolotai with 4.21. Gina Rivera Ortiz is one of the top liberos in the league as she averages 4.94 digs per set, second best in the OVC behind the Racers' Becca Fernandez. As a team, they are stout on defense as they are in the top-40 in the country in opponent's hitting percentage at .163.
