Murray State
SIU Edwardsville
Racers Return Home to Face SIUE, Eastern Illinois
10/31/2019 10:55:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dates:Â Nov. 1st and 2nd, 2019
Match Times:Â 6 p.m
Opponents:Â SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois
Site:Â Murray, Ky.
Venue:Â Racer Arena
Live Stats:Â SIUE | EIU
Live Video:Â SIUEÂ | EIU
MSU Record (Streak): 13-9Â (W1)
All-Time Series vs. SIUEÂ (Streak):Â 18-3Â (W3)
All-Time Series vs. EIUÂ (Streak): 28-24Â (W10)
MSU Next Matches:Â Nov. 8Â and 9Â - at Southeast Missouri and UT Martin
MSU Next Home Matches: Nov. 13 and 16 -Â vs. Austin Peay and Morehead State
This Weekend
The Racers return home this weekend to take on SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois. This is the first time this season that the Racers have faced teams they have already played, having swept both the Cougars and Panthers on the road to begin the conference season at the end of September. First serve for both matches is scheduled for 6 p.m and both matches are available to stream on ESPN+.
Last Weekend
After falling to Jacksonville State the night before, the Racers bounced back with a four-set victory on the road over Tennessee Tech. As a team, the Racers had 84 digs, a season-high for a four-set match, while holding the Golden Eagles to just a .163 hitting percentage. Rachel Giustino led the Racers both offensively and defensively as she notched 22 kills, 18 digs, and three blocks. Rachel Holthaus and Alysha Smith each added 11 kills of their own while Callie Anderton dished out 54 assists. Holthaus and Becca Fernandez also chipped in with 16 digs.
NCAA Leaderboard
Rachel Giustino is among the nation's leaders in a couple of categories as she is second in total kills with 422 and fourth in kills per set at 5.15. Becca Fernandez is also near the top 20 in digs per set with 5.11, currently 21st in the nation.
Almost #1
Rachel Giustino recorded her 1500th kill against Austin Peay, just the second player in program history to reach the milestone. She is currently at 1,578 kills, just 20 away from Scottie Ingram's school record of 1,598, set in 2016.
Twice in Two Weeks
For the second time in as many weeks, the Racers had two players earn OVC weekly honors as Becca Fernandez (6.5 digs per set) won her third Defensive Player of the Week while Ashley McBee (12.2 assists per set) won Setter of the Week for the second time.
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.
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 careers.
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 SIU Edwardsville
After dropping their first two OVC matches of the season, the Cougars have won six of their last eight, including two wins over first-place teams Jacksonville State and Southeast Missouri, and now sit at 6-4 in conference play and 11-11 overall this season. SIUE has three players that average over two kills a set, led by Rachel McDonald with 2.57. Mallory Nicholson leads the team with 4.92 assists per set, but Sarah Armendariz and Addie Sieber both play a role in the offense as well as they are each averaging 4.22 assists per set. On defense, Jordyn Klein is averaging 4.41 digs per set while Annie Ellis has 89 total blocks this year in 84 sets played.
Scouting Eastern Illinois
The Panthers have had a tough go of it this season as they currently have a record of 2-20 and 1-9 in OVC play, with their one win coming against Tennessee Tech in five sets on October 18. Ireland Hieb leads the team with 2.45 kills per set followed closely by Katie Sommer and Maggie Runge with 2.18 and 2.16, respectively. The offense runs through Bailey Chandler who averages 8.27 assists per set, while the defense is anchored by Madison Cunningham, who is collecting just under four digs per set.
