Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
10-9, 4-3OVC
Tennessee State
7-11, 5-2OVC
Racers Outlast Tennessee State in Five-Set Battle
10/12/2018 9:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Winners of three straight matches, the Murray State volleyball team was still looking for their first OVC road win of the season, Friday evening, and they got it with a hard-fought five-set victory over Tennessee State at Kean Hall in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Racers improve to 10-9 overall and 4-3 in the OVC while TSU falls to 7-11 and 5-2 in conference play.
After splitting the first two sets, the Tigers won a close third set, but the Racers buckled down to win the fourth, 25-22, and the fifth, 15-11, for a comeback victory. It was the third five-set match for Murray state this season, but the first time they have come out on top.
Senior Dacia Brown led Murray State with 18 kills, while junior Rachel Giustino tallied 13 kills and a season-high 19 digs for her seventh straight double-double. Junior Rachel Holthaus played her best match of the season as she racked up a season-high 12 kills and sophomore Katirah Johnson hit .462 with seven kills and a team-high four blocks.
Sophomore Callie Anderton dished out 44 assists, while classmate Becca Fernandez reached the 30-dig plateau for the first time this season, accumulating 34.
As a team, the Racers had 103 digs, crushing their previous season-high of 78, set against Miami (OH).
The Racers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, but Tennessee State answered with a 6-2 run to tie the set at six. The two teams went back-and-forth until MSU won three straight points to take a 16-13 lead, but the Tigers responded with a 5-0 run to take the lead, which they would not give up, eventually winning the set, 25-20.
In the second set, Holthaus contributed four kills early to give the Racers a 6-3 lead. MSU was unable to pull away as the Tigers came back to tie the set at 13 and after trading points took a 21-20 lead. However, the Racers won five of the last six point to take the second set, 25-22, and even the match.
The Racers fell behind 13-9 in the third set, but a 6-0 run gave them a two-point lead. However, MSU was unable to hold onto the lead as the Tigers came back to win the third set, 25-23.
The fourth set went back-and-forth until the Racers took a 20-19 lead on a kill by Johnson. The Racers closed out the set with their defense as they blocked two TSU attacks before redshirt-freshman Kolby McClelland clinched the set with a kill to force a decisive fifth set.
Murray State started out slow in the fifth as the Tigers jumped out to an early 5-3 lead, but the Racers responded with a 6-0 run, which included two kills each from Giustino and McClelland, to take a 9-5 lead. After trading points, the Racers had match point at 14-11 when Brown delivered the winning kill to complete the comeback.
The Racers will stay in Nashville as they battle Belmont, tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Bruins are coming off their biggest win of the season as they came back from two sets down to upset first-place Austin Peay, Friday night.
