Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
1-6,0-0MVC
Northern Colorado
2-4,0-0Big Sky
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Colo. | 25 | 21 | 24 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
| Murray St. | 21 | 25 | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 |
Racers Battle, Ultimately Fall Short in Day One of Blue Raider Bash
9/11/2026 8:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Murray State fell short twice Friday on day one of the Blue Raider Bash at Middle Tennessee State University.
The Racers (1-7) lost a five-set thriller to Northern Colorado (2-4) in the first match before falling to Georgia State (4-4) in three sets later in the day.
The Navy and Gold pushed reigning Big Sky Conference champion Northern Colorado to five sets, taking the second and third frames after dropping a back-and-forth opening set 25-21.
Murray State responded with its best offensive set of the match in the second, putting down 16 kills with just three errors to hit .500. The Racers broke open a 13-12 set with a run that stretched their advantage to 20-14 before finishing off a 25-21 win to even the match.
The third set brought another battle between the two sides, as Murray State trailed 23-20 late before working its way back to 24-24 on a kill from freshman Maezi Snyder. Samantha Nelson followed with a service ace, and setter Katie Titus put down the final point herself to give the Racers a 26-24 win and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Northern Colorado answered with a 25-18 win in the fourth to force a deciding fifth set before taking the final frame 15-6. The match featured 33 ties and 13 lead changes as Murray State went toe-to-toe with a Northern Colorado team that pushed No. 23 Colorado to five sets less than a week ago.
Anne Makowski led the Racers offensively with 16 kills, while Ceren Durak added 14 kills on a .385 hitting percentage to go along with nine digs. Alexa Watts finished with nine kills, and Titus recorded 41 assists and eight digs. Ada Tamturk led Murray State defensively with 17 digs, while Nelson provided three of the Racers' eight service aces.
Murray State returned to the court later Friday against Georgia State, where the Panthers took the opening set 25-20 before the Racers battled through two back-and-forth sets to close the match.
The second set featured seven ties and six lead changes, with Murray State taking a 19-18 lead late before Georgia State worked its way back in front and escaped with a 25-23 win. The Racers continued to trade points with the Panthers in the third, which featured 10 ties and seven lead changes before Georgia State closed out the match with a 25-21 victory.
Makowski led Murray State for the second straight match with eight kills, while Durak added seven kills and 13 digs. Burcu Gulomur put down five kills on eight attempts to hit a team-best .375, and freshman Snyder added four kills with three block assists. Tamturk finished with a team-high 14 digs and three service aces, while the Racers totaled six blocks as a team.
The Racers will wrap up the Blue Raider Bash on Saturday against host Middle Tennessee State at 3 pm CT.
