Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
19-11,12-4OVC
Southeast Missouri
23-10,12-4OVC
Racers on Wrong End of Marathon OVC Semifinal
11/22/2019 8:27:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
In one of the more entertaining volleyball matches of the season, Murray State and Southeast Missouri battled for five sets in the OVC Semifinals. Unfortunately, the Racers came out on the wrong end, falling in the fifth set, 21-19.
SEMO won the first set, 25-20, before Murray State dominated the second set, winning 25-14. The third set was claimed by the Redhawks, 25-22, before the Racers evened the match again in the fourth, 25-20, setting the stage for the marathon final set.
Seniors Rachel Giustino and Rachel Holthaus led the Racers in the final match with 26 and 23 kills, respectively, in their final matches in the blue and gold. Ashley McBee set career-highs with 58 assists and 23 digs while Becca Fernandez led the Racers with 32 digs, her second-highest output this season.
Murray State held an early lead in the first set before a 7-1 run by the Redhawks gave them a 19-15 lead. The Racers got back within three at 23-20, but SEMO won the final two points to take the set.II
After only registering one kill combined in the first set, it was a different story in the second for Giustino and Holthaus as they combined for 13 kills. Holthaus began with back-to-back kills which jumpstarted a 7-0 run to begin the set. A 5-0 run later in the set extended the Racer lead to 11 at 21-10, which ultimately proved to be the final margin as the Racers won 25-14.
The third set was SEMO's turn to take a sizable early lead as they went ahead 11-6. The lead remained six at 21-15 before three straight points by the Racers cut their deficit in half. After a point by SEMO, two straight kills by Holthaus brought the Racers within two, but that was as close as they would get as the Redhawks held on to win, 25-22.
The fourth set remained tight for a while before a 5-0 run by the Racers, which included three kills by Holthaus, gave MSU a 23-18 lead. SEMO won the next two points, but two straight errors followed, giving Murray State the 25-20 win.
Murray State jumped out to a 2-0 lead on two kills by Giustino to begin the fifth set.SEMO responded with four straight points to take an early lead, but the Racers answered back with three straight points to regain a 5-4 advantage. From that point forward, neither team won three straight points the rest of the match as the two teams fought for every point.
SEMO had the first match point at 14-13, but an attacking error by the Redhawks tied the set back up. After a kill by the Redhawks, Giustino answered with a kill of her own to extend the match again. After the Racers saved another match point at 16-15, Giustino tallied another kill to give MSU match point at 17-16. However, two straight points by SEMO gave them their third match point, which the Racers saved again to tie the set at 18-all. A fourth match point for SEMO was again fended off by the Racers with a Giustino kill. The Redhawks won the next point to take a 20-19 lead and finally on their fifth match point were able to put the match away with a kill.
The Racers finish the season with a 19-11 record while SEMO advances to the OVC Tournament Final, where they will play Morehead State.
