Murray State Looks to Keep Rolling at Austin Peay

Sunday, March 7

Clarksville, Tenn.

4 p.m.

Murray State

Austin Peay

Photo by: David Eaton-Murray State Athletics

3/7/2021 11:33:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

The Racers travel to Clarksville, Tennessee to face the Governors in a two-game conference matchup.

Dates: Mar. 7^th and 8^th
Match Times: 4 p.m. // 4 p.m. Central Time
Opponent: Austin Peay
Site: Clarksville, Tenn.
Venue: Winfield Dunn Center
Mar. 7 : Live Stats ; Live Video
Mar. 8 : Live Stats ; Live Video
MSU Record (Streak): 4-4 (W2)
All-Time Series vs. Austin Peay (Streak): MUR leads 41-39 (W5)
MUR Next Match: Mar. 14 and Mar. 15 vs Eastern Illinois

This Weekend
The Racers travel to Clarksville, Tennessee to take on the Governors. The Governors (6-2) currently sit in third place while the Racers (4-4) are fifth in the OVC.

The Governors beat the winless Panthers in four sets, 3-1 and 3-1 on both days last weekend. They dropped both matches to Morehead State in straight sets the previous weekend at home to sit third overall in the OVC at 6-2.

First serve is set for 4 p.m. CT on both games on Mar. 7 and 8.

Last Match
The Racers hosted UT Martin and won in a five-set battle with the Skyhawks on Sunday, 25-16, 28-26, 20-25, 22-25, 15-5, and won in straight sets on Monday 33-31, 25-11, 25-23.

The Racers got signficant contributions from freshman, Jayla Holcombe, as she led Murray State with 43 kills, including a season-high 26 in the three set win over UT Maritn. She hit .444 in the second match with the Skyhawks. She had a team-best 5.38 kills per game to go with six blocks and one service ace. Holcombe was named OVC Co-Offensive and Co-Newcomber Player of the Week.

Becca Fernandez led the Racers with 47 digs in a pair of wins over UT Martin. In the first match, she had 24 digs and followed that with 23 digs in the finale. She leads the OVC in dig per set with 6.70.

Callie Anderton ran the Racers offense with 96 assists as Murray State had its highest hitting percentage in the sweep over UT Martin, averaging 11.63 assists per set. She also recorded four kills, served a trio of service aces and picked up 13 digs. .

Fernandez and Holcombe Claim OVC Honors
Junior libero Becca Fernandez had another strong weekend against UT Martin, averaging 5.87 digs per set, totaling 47 digs on the weekend. She leads the OVC in digs per set (6.70) and claimed her third-straight Defensive Honor and eighth of her career.

Holcombe had the best weekend of her career versus the Skyhawks, collecting her first 20+ kill match while hitting .444. She totaled 43 kills on the weekend, hitting .355. Holcombe was named Co-Offensive and Co-Newcomer Player of the Week. The first honors of her career.

Fernandez Climbing the All-Time Digs List
Fernandez finished the 2019 season seventh overall on the All-Time Digs List. She sat at 1,603 career digs and claimed sixth place after the opening weekend versus Tennessee State picking up 39 digs. Fernandez surpassed fifth place while on the road at SIUE and is now only trailing fourth place by 141 digs.

Freshmen Firepower
The new faces on the team shine in Racer uniforms. All five freshmen saw playing time, coming up with kills, digs and blocks. Jayla Holcombe moved into first place in kills (109) on the Racers followed by Darci Metzger in third (66) and Taylor Beasley in fifth (26). Morgan Price had five kills and four blocks solos while Dahlia Miller is second on the team in digs with 86.

Secretary of Defense
Junior Becca Fernandez continues to shine, collecting 47 digs over the weekend to lead the Racers. Fernandez has collected double-digit digs in all eight of the Racers matches this season. Freshman Dahlia Miller contributed 26 digs and sophomore Emma Kailiponi added 10 against the Skyhawks.

Leading the OVC
Becca Fernandez is leading the OVC with 6.70 digs per set. Last season, Fernandez finished atop the OVC with 5.10 digs per set.

Last Five
Murray State has won all five of their last five matchups against Austin Peay, with their last loss coming on Nov. 21, 2015 in Murray, Ky. Last year, the Racers won in four-sets, 25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-9 and five-sets, 25-23, 22-25, 19-25. 25-19, 15-10.

Power Attack
The Racers have a balanced attack to start the season with five players in double-figure kills. Kolby McClelland had a new career-high 19 kills in the five-set win over Tennessee State. Jayla Holcombe opened her career as a Racer with double-digits kills in both games. Darci Metzger led the Racers with 15 kills at Morehead over the weekend.

Experience
Murray State will look to the upperclassmen this season as they have a three juniors and two seniors as well as two sophomores. The Racers will be led by returning All-OVC player, Becca Fernandez. Fernandez led the OVC with 5.09 digs per sets and was fourth overall in service aces per set, 0.32. Fernandez was named 2018 OVC Defensive Player of the Year after tallying 5.89 digs per set during OVC play. MSU will also have experience at setter as Callie Anderton has tallied over 1,339 assists in her career.

New Faces
The Racers welcome five new additions to Murray this season, as Taylor Beasley, Jayla Holcombe and Morgan Price join the team as freshman outside hitters. The attackers are from Paragould, Arkansas, Belleville, Illinois and Memphis, Tennessee, respectively. Freshman Darci Metzger is a middle blocker from Collinsville, Illinois while Dahlia Miller is a freshman libero from Pearland, Texas.

Preseason Poll
The Racers were tabbed to finish fourth in the preseason OVC poll collecting 180 points and 2 first-place votes. Defending OVC regular-season champion Jacksonville State was picked second with 216 points and five first-place votes. Morehead State collected seven first-place votes but finished two points behind Jacksonville State with 214 point. Southeast Missorui is picked to win the 2020-21 OVC title garnering 10 first-place votes and 222 points.

Scouting Austin Peay
Five different Governors posted double-digit kill totals in the four-set victory on Sunday. Austin Peay hit an impressive .409 attack percentage with only 18 attack errors on 132 attempts. It was APSU's second-best attack percentage all time in a four-set match. Middle blocker Claire Darland set a program record with an .846 attack percentage, posting 11 kills on 13 attempts with no errors.

Chloe Stitt and Brooke Moore are the Governors top two kill leades, with 94 (3.62 kills per set) and 93 (3.58 kills per set), respectively.

Kelsey Mead and Caroline Waite lead Austin Peay's offense with a combined 281 assists. The Governor's are hitting .236 as a team.

On the defensive side of the ball, Nina Korfhage has totaled 101 digs over the eight matches, averaging 3.88 per set. Brooke follows closely behind with 86.