Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
16-10,10-4OVC
UT Martin
11-18,7-7OVC
Racers Drop Tough Five-Setter at UT Martin
11/9/2019 6:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Murray State volleyball team fought hard against UT Martin, Saturday afternoon but ultimately fell in five sets to the Skyhawks.
The Racers fall to 16-10 and 10-4 in the OVC while UT Martin improves to 11-18 and 7-7 in conference play.
Rachel Giustino led the team with 25 kills followed by 12 kills each from Emily Matson and Rachel Holthaus. Ashley McBee dished out 41 assists while Becca Fernandez anchored the defense with 29 digs, including the 1,500th of her career.
An early 5-0 run by the Racers in the first set gave them an 11-6 lead. MSU controlled the rest of the set as the Skyhawks only got as close as two before the Racers won the set, 25-19.
The second went back and forth until, with the score tied at 17, the Skyhawks won three straight points to take a 20-17 lead. A UT Martin service error followed by a service ace from Holthaus got the Racers back within one, but that was as close as they got before dropping the set, 25-22.
With the score tied at three in the third set, the Racers went on a 10-2 run highlighted by two Alex Kaufmann service aces and three kills by Holthaus to give Murray State a 13-5 lead. The lead proved to be just big enough as the Racers did not win another point on their serve the rest of the set allowing Skyhawks to cut the Racer lead to 24-23. However, the Racers held on to win the set as the next rally resulted in an error by the Skyhawks.
UT Martin won the first four points, but the Racers quickly responded with a 5-1 run to tie the set. However, that turned out to be the last tie of the set as the Skyhawks won the next two points and were able to hold off the Racers the rest of the way, eventually winning the set, 25-22.
The Racers fell behind early in the fifth set but a 6-0 run gave Murray State an 11-7 lead. After a timeout, the Skyhawks rebounded by winning five of the next six points to tie the set at 12. A kill by Giustino gave the Racers a 13-12 lead, but that turned out to be the last point MSU would win as the UT Martin won the next three points to win 15-13.
Murray State will return to action this Wednesday for the penultimate match of the regular season against Austin Peay in the First Financial Bank Battle of the Border. First serve at Racer Arena is set for 6 p.m.
