Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
8-5,3-1MVC
Evansville
2-14,1-3MVC
Racers Rally to Defeat Aces in Reverse Sweep
10/5/2024 10:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Murray State avoided the loss to sweep opening weekend at Racer Arena.
The Murray State Racers (8-5, 3-1 MVC) survived a strong start from Evansville (2-14, 1-3 MVC) to defeat the Purple Aces in a reverse sweep, 3-2.
The win moves the Racers to third in the Missouri Valley Conference while Evansville drops to ninth.
The first set saw both teams go on extended scoring runs, however, the Aces were able to hold on and win 25-23. Evansville kept pressing in the second, going on a 9-2 run to end the set and put themselves into position for the sweep. The Racers would not go quietly, winning a back-and-forth third to steal the momentum. They held onto that momentum in the fourth, finishing the set on an 11-5 run to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
The Racers came out on fire in the final set, going on a 7-0 run to start the set, powered by outstanding service from Federica Nuccio. The Navy & Gold kept control for the entire final set and came away with a 16-5 win to complete the comeback.
Darci Metzger came into tonight's match needing just three kills to reach 1000 in her career. The Collinsville, Ill. native easily eclipsed that number, recording 14 kills and becoming the 15th member of Murray State's 1000-kill club.
Three other Racers recorded double digit kills. Ella Vogel led with 18 and added 13 digs, Lily Burnett had 16, and Haidi Miliou had 12. Bailey DeMier had 47 assists and also added 13 digs while Federica Nuccio added 13 digs and Dahlia Miller had 11.
Lily Burnett and Darci Metzger led the team with three blocks each.
"We needed it, and they needed to see what that felt like to build some confidence," said head coach David Schwepker. "It was awesome! I'm glad they did that, I was not very happy at the beginning."
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