Racers To Honor Seniors Against Southeast Missouri

With two weeks left in the regular season, the Murray State Racers volleyball team (13-10, 7-6 OVC) will return home to Racer Arena to host Southeast Missouri (20-6, 11-3 OVC) on Senior Weekend.

MURRAY STATE VS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
Friday, November 5 | 6 p.m. CT
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Saturday, November 6 | 6 p.m. CT
Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
- The Racers stretched their winning streak to five games, opening the series at Belmont with a sweep before falling in four sets to the Bruins the next day to split the series with Belmont.
- Murray State went 5-1 over their last six games, sweeping four of the six games.
- On Friday, the match only lasted an hour and five minutes as the Racers won in straight sets, 25-20, 25-20, 25-21 over Belmont for their first road conference win, third sweep in a row and fifth straight win.
- On Saturday, Murray fell in four sets, 23-25, 20-25, 25-12, 18-25.
- Holcombe and Watts both posted a pair of double-digit kill matches. Holcombe put down 13 kills on only one error on Friday on a career-high .667 attacking percentage.
- Watts surpassed 400 kills over the weekend, adding 24 kills on a .241 swing percentage. She had a match-high 14 kills on Friday and added 10 more on Saturday.
- DeMier propelled the Racer offense to a .225 hitting percentage, averaging 10.57 assists per set. She recorded her ninth double-double of the season, tallying 35 assists and 14 digs.

2021 SENIOR CLASS
- The Racers will recognize three seniors Becca Fernandez, Emily Matson, and Kolby McClelland and student manager, Drew Langston, for the 2021 season.
- The four have collectively been to three OVC tournaments, including an NCAA appearance in 2018, and they will be making their 4th OVC tournament advancement this year
- Libero Becca Fernandez is Murray State's All-Time Dig Leader, tallying 2,412 career digs. Fernandez has played in 129 career matches, 10th-most in Racer history with 127 in the libero jersey. She has won 12 OVC Defensive Player of the Week awards.
- Matson has played in a total of 70 games for the Racers. For her career, she has amassed 243 kills, 32 aces, and 131 digs.
- McClelland is second on the team in kills, notching 192 kills with an average of 2.49 kills per set, 16 aces, and 225 points and is third in the OVC with a .284 hitting percentage.

HOME SWEEP HOME
- Murray State is 6-0 at Racers and 18-1 in sets won, sweeping five of their six home games
- The offense is averaging 14.53 kills per set at a .252 hitting percentage compared to opponents 10.21 kills per set on a .139 swing rate and outdigging them with 15.74 digs per set to 12.63 digs per set.

THE OVC STACK UP
- Murray State sits fifth overall in the OVC standings after the fifth weekend of conference play.
- As a team, Murray leads the OVC in assists per set (13.24), kills per set (14.41) and digs per set (17.58) and is second in hitting percentage (.220).
- Watts leads in the OVC in kills per set (4.87) and points per set (5.17).
- Libero Becca Fernandez's 5.78 digs/set is best in the OVC and second overall in the NCAA.
- Freshman setter Bailey DeMier is first in the OVC in assists per set, averaging 11.22 assists/set and ninth in the nation. She is also seventh in aces per set, at 0.31 aces per set.
- Middle blocker, Kolby McClelland is third in the OVC with a .296 hitting percentage.

THE NATIONAL LEADERBOARD
- As a team, Murray State is seventh the nation in Kills Per Set (14.28), eighth in Assists Per Set (13.16) and 16th in Digs Per Set (17.13).
- Freshman outside hitter Brooke Lynn Watts is ninth in the NCAA in Kills Per Set, averaging 4.77 kills per set. The 2021 Gatorade State Player of the Year (Maryland) has recorded double-digit kills all but one match to start the season.
- Watts' 34 kills against Georgia Southern are the third-most in the NCAA for a 4-set match in 2021.
- Senior libero Becca Fernandez is in fifth in the NCAA in Digs Per Set, averaging 5.59 digs per set.
- Fernandez's 41 digs were second-most in a 3-set match this season in the NCAA.
- Freshman setter Bailey DeMier is ninth in the nation in Assists Per Set, averaging 11.16 assists per set.

SERIES HISTORY
- Last season, the Racers were swept by the Redhawks to close out the COVID-shortened season.
- SEMO won 19-25, 23-25, 16-26 on Mar. 28 and 22-25, 19-25, 18-25 the following day.
- The Redhawks lead the overall series, 49-34, with the Racers with MSU holding a 17-20 record at Racer Arena.
- SEMO has won four of the last five over Murray State, dating back to 2019.

SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
- Southeast Missouri is 20-6 on the season with an 11-3 mark to sit second in OVC play.
- The Redhawks outlasted Austin Peay on Thursday night in a five-set thriller, 33-35, 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 15-9, before downing the Govs in straight sets on following night, 25-9, 25-18, 25-19, and leap frogged them in the standings.
- After the Racers, Southeast Missouri returns home to host Morehead State for the final weekend of the regular season for a shot at the OVC regular season title.
- Outside hitter Laney Malloy, setter Claire Ochs and libero Tara Beilsmith combined for a trio of OVC weekly honors to sweep the awards last week.
- The Redhawks led the league in opponent hitting percentage, holding teams to a .148 %. SEMO is second in hitting percentage (.234), services aces (1.49). They are second behind the Racers in Kills (13.42), Assists (12.30) and Digs (17.10).
- Malloy is second in the OVC in kills per set (4.08), points per set (4.60) and service aces, averaging 0.33 aces per set.
- The Redhawks are coached by head coach Julie Yankus (11th season) and assistant coach Matt Stolz.

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Players Mentioned

Bailey DeMier

Becca Fernandez

Emily Matson

Kolby McClelland

Brooke Lynn Watts

Murray State University Athletics