Murray State University Athletics
Racers Head to Indy to Open 2019 Season
8/28/2019 7:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Dates:Â Aug. 30-31, 2019
Match Times: 30th – 3:30 p.m., 31st – 11 a.m., and 3:30 p.m.
Opponents:Â Valparaiso, IUPUI, South Dakota
Site (Venue):Â Indianapolis, Ind. (The Jungle)
Host (Tournament):Â IUPUI
Notes:Â IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational
Live Stats:Â All Games
MSU Record (Streak):Â 0-0 (--)
MSU All-Time vs. The Field:Â 0-3
All-Time Series vs. Valpo (Streak):Â 0-3 (L3)
All-Time Series vs. IUPUI (Streak):Â First-ever meeting
All-Time Series vs. South Dakota (Streak): First-ever meeting
MSU Next Matches: Sept. 6-7 – Troy Invitational (Chattanooga, Jacksonville, Troy, )
MSU Next Home Match:Â Oct. 4Â vs. UT Martin
This Weekend
The Murray State volleyball team opens its 2019Â season with three games at the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Racers open play Friday afternoon at 3:30Â p.m. against Valparaiso before playing two matches on Saturday, beginning with IUPUI at 10 a.m. and closing with defending Summit League champion South Dakota at 3:30Â p.m.
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 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 Valparaiso
The Crusaders are coming off a solid season where they posted a 27-11 record culminating with a trip to the National Invitation Volleyball Championship. They also made history in 2018 as they set a new NCAA record in the 25-point set era with  2,613 digs, in which they had four players with more than 350 digs led by Rylee Cookerly with 739. Valpo lost their top offensive player Katherine Carlson but return 2018 All-MVC First Teamer Brittany Anderson, who had over 1,000 assists.
Scouting IUPUI
The Jaguars are entering a new era as Lindsey Buteyn was named head coach after serving as interim head coach for the final two matches in 2018. She won those two matches but it was too late for any postseason hopes as they finished 9-21 on the season. IUPUI will look to replace Maggie Gibson who was named Honorable Mention All-Horizon League as a senior in 2018. Rebecca Schlechte and Rhiannon Schuenemann return for the Jaguars after leading the team in assists and digs, respectively.
Scouting South Dakota
The Coyotes made history in 2018 as they won the Summit League Tournament, upsetting Denver, to reach their first NCAA Tournament since joining the Division I ranks in 2008. USD will have to replace 2018 Summit League Player of the Year, Hayley Dotseth, but do return Defensive Player of the Year, Anne Rasmussen. They also return Madison Jurgens, who led the team with 1,163 assists and Elizabeth Loschen, who racked up 247 kills and 51 blocks.
