Volleyball Faces Road Test at Morehead State

The Murray State Racers volleyball team (8-4, 2-0 OVC) will travel to Morehead State (4-9, 0-2 OVC) to face the Eagles at Johnson Arena.

The two will clash in back-to-back nights beginning Friday at 5 p.m. CT and Saturday at 11 a.m. CT, both on ESPN+.

MURRAY STATE VS. MOREHEAD STATE
Friday, October 1 | 5 p.m. CT
Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Stats

Saturday, October 2 | 11 a.m. CT
Live Video (ESPN+) | 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 1-1 over the weekend, sweeping Cleveland State, 25-16, 25-17, 25-15 before falling to Evansville in straight sets 17-25, 31-33, 17-25 to close out non-conference play, 6-4.
- The Racers opened conference play with a 2-0 start, sweeping Eastern Illinois in both matches.
- Murray State won their home opener, 3-0, 25-16, 25-15, 25-21 and followed it up with another straight set victory, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17.
- The Racers were led offensively by Brooke Lynn Watts, who put down a team-best 13 kills in each match to lead Murray State. Watts added 13 digs and two assists in the two matches.
- Watts was named OVC Newcomer of the Week for the fourth time this season, and sixth overall OVC Honor.
- McClelland produced 19 total kills and only two errors on 40 attempts for a .425 attack percentage and six block assists and one solo block in the series sweep of EIU.
- Fernandez anchored the back row with a team-leading 27 digs, averaging 4.5 digs per set. Fernandez picked up 17 digs in the conference opener and 10 on Saturday to extend her streak of games with double-digit digs to 30.

PRESEASON POLL
- The Racers were tabbed to finish seventh in the preseason OVC poll collecting 74 points.
- 2020 OVC Tournament Champion Morehead State was tabbed as the preseason favorite as they received 161 points and 17 of 20 first-place votes while Southeast Missouri (136 points, three first-place votes) and Austin Peay (121 Points) was picked second and third, respectively.
- Senior Becca Fernandez was named to the Preseason All-OVC team for the third year in a row and sophomore Jayla Holcombe was named for the first time in her career.

NONCONFERENCE SEASON
- The Racers went 6-4 in non-conference to start the 2021 season, going 5-1 at neutral sites and 1-3 on the road with tournaments at Mercer, Saint Louis, Georgia Southern and Evansville.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
- Senior libero Becca Fernandez broke Murray State's All-Time Digs record, collecting 41 digs at the Eagle Invitational 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 on a .387 hitting efficiency.

BEST IN THE NATION
- As a team, Murray State leads the nation in Kills Per Set (14.95) and second in Assists Per Set (13.63).
- Freshman outside hitter Brooke Lynn Watts is second in the NCAA in Kills Per Set, averaging 5.58 kills per set. The 2021 Gatorade State Player of the Year (Maryland) has recorded double-digit kills in every match to start the season.
- Watts leads the NCAA in Attacks Per Set (13.98) and is second in Points Per Set (5.87).
- Watts' 34 kills against Georgia Southern are the most in the NCAA for a 4-set match this season.
- Senior libero Becca Fernandez sits fourth in the NCAA in Digs Per Set, averaging 5.72 digs per set.
- Freshman setter Bailey DeMier is fifth in the NCAA in Assists Per Set (11.33).

THE OVC STACK UP
- Murray State is first overall in the OVC standings after the first weekend of conference play.
- As a team, Murray leads the OVC in hitting percentage (.230), assists per set (13.57), kills per set (14.90) and digs per set (18.23).
- Watts leads in the OVC in kills per set and points per set. Watts is averaging 5.70 kills per set, leading the next closest player by more than a kill per set.
- Watts also tops the OVC in points per set averaging 6.00 with 228 total kills, eight aces, two block solo and four block assists in 40 sets played.
- Freshman setter Bailey DeMier's 11.33 assists per set is best in the OVC and fifth in the NCAA.
- Libero Becca Fernandez is first in the OVC in digs per set, averaging 5.89 digs/set.
- Middle blocker, Kolby McClelland is third in the OVC with a .300 hitting percentage.

OVC HONORS
- The Racers have collected OVC honors in each of the first five weeks of the season, totaling eight honors so far, the most of any team in the conference.
- Freshman Brooke Lynn Watts has claimed six honors, four Newcomer of the Weeks and two Offensive Player of the Week in the first five weeks.
- Freshman Alexa Harris claimed her first career OVC honor, Newcomer of the Week (Sept. 20) after averaging 4.67 kills per set on a .310 hitting clip.
- Senior Becca Fernandez won OVC Defensive Player of the Week for tallying 71 digs, 6.45 digs per set (Sept. 6).

EFFICIENT FROM THE START
- In the conference opener, McClelland secured three block assists and one solo block on top of seven kills and zero errors (.500 attack %).
- McClelland followed it up with a season-best 12 kills, three block assists and service ace to close out the opening weekend of conference play.

THE SETTER
- In her freshman season, setter Bailey DeMier has paced the Racers to the best team hitting percentage in the OVC (.230).
- DeMier has collected 486 assists, averaging 11.33 per set, 126 digs, 29 kills and 7.0 blocks.
- The Bloomington, Indiana native has tallied six double-doubles so far this season.

SERIES HISTORY
- The Eagles lead the series against the Racers, 44-31, Morehead State holding a 25-9 record at home. The Eagles swept the series last year, taking both matches in straight sets.

SCOUTING MOREHEAD STATE
- The Morehead State Eagles hold a 4-9 overall record, 0-2 in conference play to sit ninth in the OVC standings
- The reigning OVC Champions were swept by Austin Peay in the opening weekend OVC competition.
- The Eagles lost in a five-set thiller, 19-25, 23-25, 25-21, 27-25, 8-15, on Friday and in four sets, 14-25, 21-25, 25-15, 23-25 on Saturday.
- Senior outside hitter, Olivia Lohmeier, was named the OVC Co-Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 27) for her performance over the weekend. Lohmeier had 25 kills on a career-high 76 swings on Friday and added team-high 16 kills the following night, averaging 4.56 kills per set while hitting .220.
- Lohmeier is now in third place in career kills at Morehead and ninth in OVC history.
- The Eagles are hitting .177 as a while, seventh in the OVC, averaging 12.69 kills per set, fourth in the OVC.
- Defensively, Morehead State is fourth in the OVC with 15.39 digs per set and ninth averaging 1.53 blocks per set.
- The 2020 OVC Co-Setter of the Year, sophomore Bridget Bessler is averaging 9.39 assists per set. She won OVC Setter of the Week (Sept. 6)
- Morehead State leads the overall series 44-31 over the Racers with the Eagles holding a 25-9 record in Morehead. Murray State dropped both matches in straight sets against Morehead last season.
- The Eagles are coached by head coach Jaime Gordon (19th season), associate head coach Krysten Becker-McBride, assistant coach Sarah Martin

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Players Mentioned

Bailey DeMier

Becca Fernandez

Alexa Harris

Jayla Holcombe

Kolby McClelland

Brooke Lynn Watts

Murray State University Athletics