Murray State Closes Out Non-Conference Schedule at Evansville

The Murray State Racers volleyball team (5-3) is heads to the Dunn Hospitality Invitational, hosted by Georgia Southern, for the final week of non-conference play.

The two-day tournament will feature Cleveland State and Liberty on Friday and Evansville on Saturday.

MURRAY STATE VS. CLEVELAND STATE
Friday, September 17 | 9 a.m. CT
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MURRAY STATE VS. LIBERTY
Friday, September 17 | 3 p.m. CT
Live Stats

MURRAY STATE VS. EVANSVILLE
Saturday, September 11 | 2 p.m. CT
Live Stats

QUICK HITS
- The 2021 season marks the 39th year of Murray State volleyball.
- Murray State was picked to finish seventh in the OVC in the conference's preseason poll.
- Murray State's 2021 schedule boasts four non-conference tournaments after playing a conference-only schedule in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Racers will travel twice to Georgia to compete in the Mercer Bear Classic (Aug. 27-28) and in Georgia Southern's Eagle Invitational (Sept. 10-11), to St. Louis, Missouri to play in Saint Louis's Billiken Invitational (Sept. 3-4) before closing out non-conference play the University of Evansville's Dunn Hospitality Invitational (Sept. 17-18).
- Head coach Dave Schwepker stands at 354-302 in his 24th season in Murray. He is joined by assistant coach Alison Hrusovsky who enters her third season with the Racers.
- The Racers roster features a pair of seniors, one redshirt senior, two juniors, five sophomores and four freshmen.

LAST TIME OUT
- The Racers went 2-0 over the weekend, winning Georgia Southern's Eagle Invitational, sweeping FIU and defeating Georgia Southern in four sets.
- Senior libero Becca Fernandez broke Murray State's All-Time Digs record, collecting 41 digs over the weekend to surpass Kayleah Sauer ('08-'11) with 2,166 career digs.
- The NCAA Kills Per Set leader, freshman Brooke Lynn Watts, was unstoppable as she put down 34 kills on a blistering .387 hitting percentage against Georgia Southern to break the Racers' Single Match (4-set) Kills Record, the most in the NCAA for a 4-set match this season.
- Watts was named OVC Offensive and Newcomer of the Week for the second and third time, respectively, this season. Watts is the only player to win Newcomer of the Week award so far.
- Bailey DeMier matched her season-high 53 assists against Georgia Southern, tallying 97 in the two matches, averaging 13.86 assists per set.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
- Senior libero Becca Fernandez broke Murray State's All-Time Digs record, collecting 41 digs over the weekend to surpass Kayleah Sauer ('08-'11) with 2,166 career digs.
- Watts broke the Racers' Single Match (4-set) Kills Record with 34 kills in the win over Georgia Southern.

BEST IN THE NATION
- As a team, Murray State leads the nation in Kills Per Set (15.29) and Assists Per Set (13.97) and is third in Digs Per Set (19.35).
- Freshman outside hitter Brooke Lynn Watts leads the NCAA in Kills Per Set, averaging 6.06 kills per set. The 2021 Gatorade State Player of the Year (Maryland) has recorded 20+ kills in all but one match to start the season.
- Watts put down 34 kills on a blistering .387 hitting percentage against Georgia Southern to break the Racers' Single Match (4-set) Kills Record, the most in the NCAA for a 4-set match this season.
- Watts also leds the NCAA in Attacks Per Set (15.13) and is second in Points Per Set (6.46).
Senior libero Becca Fernandez sits second in the NCAA in Digs Per Set, averaging 6.26 digs per set.
- Freshman setter Bailey DeMier is third in the NCAA in Assists Per Set (11.68).

LEADING THE OVC
- As a team, Murray leads the OVC in assists per set (14.03), kills per set (15.29) and digs per set (18.23) and is second in hitting percentage (.231).
- Watts leads in the OVC in kills per set and points per set. Watts is averaging 6.06 kills per set, leading the next closest player by 1.41 kills/set.
- Watts also tops the OVC in points per set averaging 6.39 with 188 total kills, seven aces, one block solo and four block assists in 31 sets played.
- Freshman setter Bailey DeMier has led the Racer offense with 363 assists. Her 11.68 assists per set is best in the OVC and third in the NCAA.
- Libero Becca Fernandez is first in the OVC in digs per set, averaging 6.26 digs/set.

OVC HONORS
- Through the first three weeks of the 2021, the Racers have earned six OVC Player of the Week honors, the most of any team in the conference.
- Freshman Brooke Lynn Watts has claimed five honors, three Newcomer of the Weeks and two Offensive Player of the Week in the first three weeks of the season.
- Senior Becca Fernandez won OVC Defensive Player of the Week for the week of 9/6

INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Freshman setter Bailey DeMier set a new season-high with four kills and two aces and matched her season-high 53 assists in the win over Georgia Southern.
- Against Georgia Southern, senior outside hitter Emily Matson set a new career high with 13 digs, upping her previous high of 11 from the previous weekend at the Billiken Invitational.
- Sophomore Jayla Holcombe came in the game and put up a wall against the Eagles' attackers. In two sets played, Holcombe had one block solo and three blocks assists, a season-high.

MIDDLE ATTACK
- Out of the middle, redshirt senior Kolby McClelland and sophomore Darci Metzger lead the Racers.
- McClelland tops Murray State with 15.0 blocks and is second on the team with 71 kills and is ninth in the OVC in hitting percentage (.263).
- Metzger follows closely behind, second on the team in blocks (8.0) and third in kills (51).

SETTING IT UP
- In her freshman season, setter Bailey DeMier has paced the Racers to a .225 team hitting percentage. DeMier has collected 362 assists, averaging 11.68 per set, 96 digs, 17 kills and 6.0 blocks. The Bloomington, Indiana native has tallied five double-doubles so far this season.

SERIES HISTORY
The Racers are facing FIU and Georgia Southern for the first time in program history this weekend at the Eagle Invitational.

vs. Cleveland State: 3-1
vs. Liberty: 1-0
vs. Evansville: 20-9

SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
- The Vikings are off to a 2-7 start this season and are on a five-game losing streak, with wins against Morgan State and Radford.
- This past weekend, Cleveland State went 0-3 at the Colgate Invitational, losing in four to Princeton and in straight sets to Hofstra and Colgate.
- Cleveland State is hitting .147 as a whole, averaging 10.56 kills per set.
- Junior Peyton Bloomer leds the Vikings with a team-best 74 kills, averaging 2.47 per set.
- Audrey McConihe leads the back row with a team-high 120 digs, while Abby Miller has 235 of the team's 303 total assists this season. She had a season-high 41 in the five-set loss to Morehead State.
- Cleveland State leads the series against the Racers, 3-1. The last meeting between the two teams was in 2012 when Cleveland State won in straight sets.

SCOUTING LIBERTY
- The Flames are off to a 4-3 start this season, going 3-0 at RMU's tournament before going 1-3 at the home invitational, picking up a win over Navy.
- Statistically, the Flames are led by Trinity Watts, who has 87 kills and a .210 hitting percentage.
- Lindsey Hardesty leads Liberty defensively with 88 digs and 13 service aces while setter Amaya Williams tops the Flames with 205 assists.
- This is the Racers second contest against the Flames with Murray State winning the first meeting in 2014 in four sets.

SCOUTING EVANSVILLE
- The Aces are off to their best start (7-1) since 1981. Evansville has swept in five of their seven wins.
- Evansville split this past weekend at Miami (Ohio)'s Invitational defeating host Miami (Ohio) in four before taking their first loss of the season to Northern Kentucky, also in four sets.
- Senior Alondra Vazquez leads the MVC with 4.47 kills per set, 23rd nationally. She was named MVC Player of the Week (8/30) and gardnered MVP honor at Purdue Fort Wayne's Invitational.
- Two Aces players have triple-digit kills. Alondra Vazquez and Giulia Cardona have 128 and 104 kills, respectively. Vazquez averages 4.74 kills per set with a .324 hitting percentage while Cardona hits .229 with 3.85 kills per set.
- Taya Haffner paces the Aces offense with 189 assists, averaging 11.12 assists per set and has 47 digs.
- Evansville leads the series 20-9 against Murray State. The Aces have won the last eight meetings, with coming in 2013.

Murray State Closes Out Non-Conference Schedule at Evansville

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Players Mentioned

Bailey DeMier

Becca Fernandez

Jayla Holcombe

Emily Matson

Kolby McClelland

Darci Metzger

Brooke Lynn Watts

Murray State University