Making Our Move - Athletics Facilities Master Plan Focuses On Volleyball

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

Making Our Move - Athletics Facilities Master Plan Focuses On Volleyball

10/21/2021 1:51:00 PM | General, Women's Volleyball

The Murray State Athletics Facility Master Plan creates a pathway to accomplish the largest advancement of athletics facilities in the history of Murray State University

The future for historic Racer Arena is the focus this week as the Murray State Athletics Facility Master Plan looks at the home of Racer Volleyball. The recently completed facility master plan serves as a vision for enhancing player development, recruiting and the student-athlete experience throughout the entire MSU athletics facility portfolio.

When it opened in 1954, Racer Arena was one of the top facilities in all of collegiate basketball and served well as the home of Racer Basketball for 44 years when its final game was played in March 1998. For the last 23 years, Racer Arena has given MSU Volleyball a one-of-a-kind home court as the second largest volleyball-only facility in NCAA D-I.

In the facility master plan, Racer Arena will add its first video board engaging fans and creating a better game atmosphere. Racer Arena will also get new competition lighting, upgrades to player spaces and a new sound system. A new HVAC system will be installed in early 2022.

"We are very excited about the enhancements in the plan for volleyball," said Coach Dave Schwepker who has led the Racers for 24 seasons. "The video board will be fantastic and it will create a great game day experience. When all of the improvements are done, Racer Arena will still have the historic feel it has now, but the place will be modernized and that is attractive to the top talent we recruit to Murray State. We love playing in Racer Arena and FMP - Racer Arena

are excited to see it made better."

"We've talked about it a lot, wouldn't a video board be neat?" said Kolby McClelland, current Racer senior. "That and all of the other improvements is only going to push the program to greater heights. I've had a great experience playing in Racer Arena and having an outstanding locker room there and now I am excited to see the plan to improve it."

Scottie Ingram, a 2021 Murray State Hall of Famer and the only player from Racer Volleyball to have her number retired, has seen the plans for Racer Arena and believes the future is bright for the program

"The impact on the program these new updates bring is impressive," said Ingram, who played for the Racers from 2013-16 "I would be more interested as a possible recruit with all of these improvements. This is going to be big for Coach Schwepker and it will be great for the future of Murray State Volleyball in the area of recruiting."

The construction of an Athletic performance center impacts Racer Volleyball when the team accesses a new weight room and training room spaces. When all student-athletes, coaches and staff leave Stewart Stadium and move into this beautiful new building, the stadium's 87,000 square feet of space will be converted into indoor workout space. The athletic performance center will become the heartbeat of the athletics' department.

Another plus to the renovation of Stewart Stadium, is the club space created in the middle of the grandstand. The new space will be a great area for Murray State coaches to visit with recruits and their families.

About The MSU Athletics Facility Master Plan
Shared to Racer Nation in August of 2021, the facility master plan provides clarity and sets the Racers up for a great future. The 14-month evaluation process was meticulous and thorough and it provides a vision for a pathway to accomplish the largest advancement of athletics facilities in the history of Murray State University. An in-depth study of each athletic facility was done in consultation with university leadership, architects, engineers and construction professionals to determine the current viability, create a needs assessment and outline scope of work for each venue. The plan is part of the larger capital campaign for Murray State University. The athletics venues that will be touched include the CFSB Center, Roy Stewart Stadium, Bennie Purcell Courts, Pat Spurgin Range, Cutchin Field, Johnny Reagan Field, Marshall Gage Track, Miller Memorial Golf Course, Racer Arena and Racer Field. A new Athletics Performance Center is included in the plan. Those interested in learning more about or how you can support these facility projects can contact Director of Development-Athletics, Taylor Mudd at (270) 809-3517 or tmudd3@murraystate.edu for further