Murray State
13-9, 7-3
Tennessee Tech
10-13, 6-4
Strong Defense Leads Racers Over Tennessee Tech
10/26/2019 10:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team bounced back from a tough loss, Friday evening, to defeat Tennessee Tech in four sets at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Saturday night.
The Racers improve to 13-9 on the season and 7-3 in the OVC while TTU falls to 10-13 and 6-4 in conference play.
In a match where neither team hit over .200, the Racers played strong defense as five players had double-digit digs contributing to a total of 84 on the night for MSU.
Rachel Giustino led both the offense and defense with a team-high 22 kills, 18 digs, ad three blocks while hitting .370. Rachel Holthaus and Alysha Smith each tacked on 11 kills of their own while Callie Anderton dished out a season-high 54 assists. Holthaus and Becca Fernandez also chipped in with 16 digs.
Tennessee Tech started the match winning three straight points but the Racers quickly responded, taking a 9-8 lead after a 4-0 run. The Golden Eagles answered back and built a lead as big as four but after the Racers got it back within two at 20-18, they went on a 6-0 run to get to match point. After Tennessee Tech got one point back, Giustino got the set-clinching kill with a powerful attack from the back row.
The second set started similar to the first as the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Racers answered to take a 9-8 lead. The set went back-and-forth after that until, with the score tied at 22, TTU won three straight points to even up the match at one set apiece.
The third set was close early until a 4-0 run gave the Racers a 14-11 to force a TTU timeout. The Golden Eagles got as close as three but two blocks by Megan Lindsay late in the set squashed any hopes for Tennessee Tech as the Racers held onto win, 25-20.
The fourth set was tied as late as 17-17 before a kill by Holthaus and two kills by Rachel Kinney gave the Racers a lead they would not give up. After a service error gave the Racers match point at 24-21, Giustino sealed the match with a kill off the block.
The Racers will return to action next weekend when they host SIU Edwardsville on Friday and Eastern Illinois, Saturday. First serve for both matches is set for 6 p.m. at Racer Arena and can be streamed on ESPN+.
