Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
6-8, 0-2
Southeast Missouri
9-6, 1-1
Racers Battle Back From Two Sets Down, But Fall in Five to SEMO
9/22/2018 7:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
For the second day in a row, the Murray State volleyball team dropped a tough five-set match as they fell to Southeast Missouri State at Houck Field House in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Saturday afternoon.
MSU was able to force a fifth set after dropping the first two sets of the match, but SEMO was able to hold on and take the match as they improve to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in the OVC while the Racers fall to 6-8 and 0-2 in the conference.
Four Racers registered double-digit kills, led by junior Rachel Giustino with 19 kills while also contributing 13 digs. Sophomore Ashley McBee racked up a career-high 50 assists and classmate Becca Fernandez had 19 digs. Senior Dacia Brown and redshirt-freshman Kolby McClelland each had four blocks as the Racers had nine blocks as a team.
Murray State outhit SEMO .218-.194 and was led by sophomore Courtney Radle, who hit .429, and sophomore Katirah Johnson, who hit .375. Both set season highs in kills with 11 and 13, respectively.
The Redhawks scored the first two points of the match, but the Racers responded with a 4-0 run, culminating with an ace by McClelland. The set went back-and-forth until SEMO went on a 7-0 run to take a 23-19 lead. However, Murray State won six of the next seven points to get to set point at 25-24, but the Redhawks tied it back up and after the Racers went up by one again, scored three straight points to take the set, 28-26.
The second set was all SEMO as they jumped out to a 10-4 lead and never looked back. After expanding their lead to 20-8, the Racers got back to within seven at 24-17, but the Redhawks took the set on a kill by Maggie Adams.
In the third set, neither team scored more than two straight points until MSU went on a 5-0 run, culminating with a McClelland block, to go up 23-20. After a kill by SEMO, the Racers took the set, 25-21, on back-to-back kills by Giustino and McClelland.
McClelland started the fourth set with another block to begin a 4-0 run to begin the set. The Redhawks got back within two at 10-8, but another 4-0 run by MSU gave the Racers the cushion they needed, as they eventually took the set, 25-16.
With Southeast Missouri up 4-3 in the fifth, the Redhawks went on a 7-0 run to burst out to an eight-point lead in the final set. The Racers were unable to recover as SEMO went on to take the set, 15-9, and the match.
The Racers are back in action, Tuesday at Austin Peay in the first Battle of the Border contest of the 2018-19 year. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
