Murray State University Athletics
Giustino Named OVC Player of the Year, Holthaus and Fernandez on First Team
11/20/2019 8:26:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The Ohio Valley Conference handed out their annual awards, Wednesday evening, and the Murray State volleyball team was heavily featured as they had three players named to the All-OVC First Team, highlighted by OVC Player of the Year Rachel Giustino. Joining Giustino on the first team is senior middle blocker Rachel Holthaus and junior libero Becca Fernandez.
Giustino becomes just the third player in Racer history to be named player of the year after Sarah Dearworth won in 1994 and Scottie Ingram won three straight seasons from 2014-16. It is also the third straight season that Giustino has been an All-OVC First Team selection.
The senior from Algonquin, Illinois is currently in the midst of one of the greatest seasons in Racer and OVC history as she is averaging 5.34 kills per set, fourth-best in the country. Her 565 total kills is second in the NCAA and is just 17 away from the all-time Murray State record. Over the course of this season, Giustino has already set multiple records, including becoming the all-time kills leader in MSU history when she passed Scottie Ingram on November 1 against SIUE and currently sits at 1,719 career kills.
It is also the third straight year that Rachel Holthaus has been named All-OVC after being named first team in 2017 and second team in 2018. She is currently in the middle of her best season to-date as she is averaging 2.97 kills per set. During OVC play, she hit .342, second-best in the conference. She is also solid on defense as she is third on the team in blocks with 34 and digs with 195.
After being named OVC Defensive Player of the Year and landing on the first team a season ago, Becca Fernandez finds herself back on the first team in 2019. The junior from Carol Stream, Illinois led the OVC with 5.05 digs per set and fifth in total digs with 474 despite playing almost 20 less sets than the players in front of her. Her 5.05 digs per set is also 27th in the country and her 1,557 career digs is fourth in the country among juniors.
Overall, this brings the total number of All-OVC selections for Murray State to 63, including 26 named to the first-team.
Giustino, Holthaus, Fernandez, and the rest of their Racer teammates are back in action tomorrow morning as they open the OVC Tournament against UT Martin. First serve from Jacksonville, Alabama is scheduled for 10 a.m. and can be streamed, as all OVC Tournament games are, on ESPN+.
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