Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Morehead State
Racers Head East to Take on Morehead State
11/1/2018 1:49:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Dates:Â Nov. 3, 2018
Match Time:Â 1 p.m.
Opponents:Â Morehead State
Site (Venue):Â Morehead, Ky. (Wetherby Gym)
Live Stats:Â Statbroadcast
Watch: OVC Digital Network
Murray State Record (Streak):Â 16-9, 10-3 OVC (W10)
Morehead State Record (Streak):Â 18-8, 9-4 OVC (W1)
All-Time Series vs. Morehead State (Streak):Â 28-41 (W2)
MSU Next Matches: Nov. 9 at Eastern Illinois and Nov. 10 at SIU Edwardsville
Saturday
The Racers will play the only OVC team they have not faced this year, Saturday, when they travel to Morehead State to play the Eagles at 1 p.m.
Previous Match
The Murray State volleyball team made it ten wins in a row, Tuesday evening, as they took down first-place Austin Peay in four sets, 25-14, 25-15, 14-25, 25-11, at Racer Arena in the Heritage Bank Battle of the Border. The Racers needed to play stellar defense against the top hitting team in the Ohio Valley Conference and they did just that, as they held the Governors to a season-low hitting percentage of .068, including a negative hitting percentage in three of the four sets. Sophomore libero Becca Fernandez anchored the Racer back line as she racked up 29 digs, her second-highest output of the season and the most she has had in a four-set match. Junior Rachel Holthaus and sophomore Ashley McBee contributed to MSU's 74 digs with 11 each.
Junior Rachel Giustino saw her 12-match double-double streak come to an end, but still tallied nine digs. Giustino and senior Dacia Brown led the Racers on offense with 14 kills each and McBee dished out 38 assists. Sophomore Katirah Johnson led the Murray State frontline defense, matching a career high in blocks with six while Holthaus and McBee had four each.
OVC Honors
Rachel Giustino and Becca Fernandez each picked up OVC honors for their strong play last weekend. Giustino won Offensive Player of the Week after averaging an OVC-high 5.00 kills per set. She also tallied 39 digs, recording her 11th and 12th straight double-doubles in the process. Fernandez claimed Defensive Player of the Week after racking up 50 digs in just seven sets for an average of 7.14 per set.
Home Sweet Home
With the win over Austin Peay, Tuesday, the Racers capped off an undefeated home campaign as they went 8-0 at Racer Arena this season. It is the third time in the last five seasons Murray State has gone unblemished at home and are now 48-2 in Murray since 2014.
Conference Leaders
Murray State currently has the kills and digs leaders and in the OVC in Rachel Giustino and Becca Fernandez. Giustino is the only player during OVC play averaging over four kills a set at 4.04, while Fernandez overtook the digs lead after the last match and now sits at 5.78 digs per set, just .01 ahead of Tennessee State's Gina Rivera Ortiz.
20-20 Vision
Rachel Giustino recorded the first 20-20 match of her career against SEMO, last Friday, becoming the first Racer to accomplish the feat since 3-time OVC Player of the Year Scottie Ingram accomplished the feat in the 2016 OVC Championship match against SIUE and the first time in a four-set match since Ingram did it against San Diego State on September 3, 2016. Before Ingram, a Racer had not had a 20-20 match since Tara DeMage in 2007.
Scouting Morehead State
The Morehead State Eagles enter this match coming off a three-set win over Eastern Kentucky, Wednesday. Olivia Lohmeier had 16 kills and Jordan Jones added 10 more as the Eagles hit .278, while holding the Colonels to a .088 clip. The Eagles had 10 blocks, improving their OVC-leading blocks per set average to 2.36. During conference play, Maddie Fella leads the conference with 53 total blocks. Lohmeier leads the team in kills, averaging 3.52 per set and Chandler Clark paces the team with 10.60 assists per set. On the backline, Allison Whitten leads the Eagles with 3.93 digs per set.
