Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
UT Martin
Racers Welcome UT Martin and SEMO for Home Debut
10/3/2019 10:07:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dates: Oct. 4-5, 2019
Match Times: 4th – 6 p.m., 5th – 6 p.m.
Opponents: UT Martin and Southeast Missouri
Site: Murray, Ky.
Venue: Racer Arena
Notes: UTM and SEMO
Live Stats: UT Martin | SEMO
Live Video: UT Martin | SEMO
MSU Record (Streak): 8-6 (W2)
All-Time Series vs. UT Martin (Streak): 47-21 (W2)
All-Time Series vs. SEMO (Streak): 31-47 (W1)
MSU Next Match: Oct. 9 – at Austin Peay
MSU Next Home Matches: Oct. 18 and 19 – Belmont and Tennessee State
This Weekend
The Murray State volleyball team opens makes their home debut this weekend as they will battle UT Martin on Friday before taking on SEMO on Saturday. Both matches will begin at 6 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Last Weekend
After opening OVC play with a sweep of Eastern Illinois on Friday, the Racers took down SIUE in three sets, Saturday, to begin conference play 2-0. Becca Fernandez was named OVC Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 7.67 digs per set, including 27 digs in just three sets against the Cougars. Rachel Giustino led MSU with 4.50 kills per set while Ashley McBee dished out 9.83 assists. Freshman Alysha Smith also had a strong weekend with 10 kills and five blocks.
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.
2018 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 UT Martin
The Skyhawks enter Friday's match at 1-1 in the OVC after splitting with Southeast Missouri and Jacksonville State last weekend, falling to the Redhawks in the opener before taking down JSU in the four sets. Jessica Reynolds and Gintare Mackeviciute lead a two-headed attack on offense for the Skyhawks as they each have over 120 kills. In addition to the two of them averaging over two kills per set, Logan Wallick and Karen Scanlon also hit that mark as UT Martin depends on their balance on offense. Junior Jamie Rys has done a nice job replacing 2018 OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Year (shared with MSU's Becca Fernandez) as libero, tallying 3.60 digs per set and Kenzie Hinshaw brings a ton of experience at setter as she has over 2,000 assists in her career.
Scouting Southeast Missouri
The Redhawks enter the weekend with a 9-7 overall record and 1-1 in OVC play after defeating UT Martin before falling to Tennessee Tech last week. Laney Malloy leads the offensive attack for SEMO as she averages 3.07 kills per set while also being 15th in the country with 28 service aces. Claire Ochs paces the team with 9.05 assists per set while Tara Beilsmith has been one of the OVC's best freshman this season with 4.74 digs per set. As a team, the Redhawks are strong on their front line defense as they are second in the OVC with 2.23 blocks per set.
