Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Evansville
11/5/2026 12:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Murray State will close its season road slate with a trip to Evansville on Friday and Indiana State on Saturday.
The weekend features two rematches for a Racers (5-19, 3-9 MVC) team playing its best volleyball of the season. Murray State has won three of its last five matches after a 2-17 start, and all three of its conference wins have come in that stretch.Â
Match Preview vs Evansville
Friday, Nov. 6 | 6 p.m. CT | Meeks Family Fieldhouse | ESPN+
Series History: Friday is the second meeting of the season between the Racers and the Purple Aces. Evansville won the first 3-1 in Murray State's home opener on Oct. 2, ending the Racers' three-match win streak in the series. The Aces had their best offensive night of the season, hitting .364 and out-killing Murray State 65-54. Five Evansville players hit above .300, and four reached double-digit kills, led by Lyla Fisher and McKenzie Laubach with 14 apiece. Mija Pristovnik paced the Racers with a career-high 14 kills on .400 hitting, adding three aces and 17 points, and Ada Tamturk dug 25 balls. Murray State's last win in Evansville came Nov. 8, 2024, when the Racers hit .363 in a 3-1 victory.
Scouting the Aces: Since that win in Racer Arena, Evansville has lost nine straight, and only one of those matches went five sets. The Aces sit last in the MVC at 4-20 overall and 1-11 in league play. While they don't have anyone in the top 15 in the MVC in kills, sophomore Ryan Scheu controls the middle, hitting .318. Fisher (240 kills, 2.61 per set) and Wren Jones (228 kills, 2.51 per set) lead the attack, and Savannah Gogel blocks 1.03 per set. Setter Carsyn Kelley averages 8.68 assists per set, and libero Kendall Agler leads the back row with 3.19 digs per set.
Serve receive has been a weak spot for the Aces, who have committed 221 reception errors (2.38 per set). That gives a Racer serving unit led by Ceren Durak (0.32 aces per set) and Paige Brock (0.27) a chance to apply pressure.
Match Preview vs Indiana State
Saturday, Nov. 7 | 1 p.m. ETÂ | ISU ArenaÂ
Series History: Murray State leads the all-time series 7-3 but has dropped the last two meetings, both five-setters at Racer Arena (Oct. 11, 2025, and Oct. 3, 2026). The Racers swept the Sycamores in their last trip to Terre Haute on Nov. 9, 2024. In the Oct. 3 meeting, Anne Makowski posted a career-high 24 kills, Tamturk dug a career-high 32 balls and Lily Evans added seven blocks as Murray State totaled a season-high 13 team blocks and 75 digs. Indiana State won the fifth set 15-11 behind Corinne Knapp (21 kills) and Curry Kendall (19 kills, six aces).
Scouting the Sycamores: Indiana State enters at 9-14 and 3-9 in the MVC, tied with the Racers in the standings. The Sycamores have gone 2-6 since leaving Murray, though they swept Evansville on Oct. 27. Kendall (2.87 kills, 3.30 points per set) and Kira Holland (263 kills, 2.86 per set) lead an offense that hits .196 as a team. Middle Lily Mueller hits .317 and blocks 0.92 per set. Avery Hales averages 7.11 assists per set, and libero Emmy Sher leads the defense with 2.95 digs per set. Indiana State serves aggressively (1.57 aces per set) but has committed 314 service errors.Â
Racer Notes
- Mashin' Makowski: The sophomore leads Murray State with 290 kills (3.30 per set), ranking sixth in the MVC in both kills and kills per set, and is 10 shy of 300 on the season. She has led or shared the team lead in kills in 16 of 24 matches and has reached double-digit kills in four straight, including 19 at SIU (Oct. 24) and 19 against Drake (Oct. 31).
- Evans hits a new gear: The senior set career highs in kills in back-to-back matches last weekend, with 14 against UIC and 20 against Drake. Her .722 hitting against UIC was the best by a Racer with 10+ kills since 2018 and the second-highest single-match mark in the MVC this season. She totaled 34 kills on .452 hitting and 36.5 points over the weekend and passed 500 career kills.
- Nelson stepping in: Sam Nelson took over at libero on Oct. 15 and has led the Racers in digs in five of the last six matches, averaging 3.64 digs per set in that stretch, up from 1.23 before. She set a career high with 19 digs in the sweep of UIC.
- Last weekend: Murray State hit a season-best .339 and out-killed UIC 56-38 in its first MVC sweep of the season, avenging an Oct. 10 loss in Chicago. The next night, the Racers hit over .400 in sets two and three against Drake before falling 15-10 in the fifth. Murray State hit .280 for the weekend, its best since Nov. 8-9, 2024.
- Balanced attack: Murray State had five hitters reach double-digit kills in its Oct. 24 win at SIU, just the second time that has happened this decade.
Racer Leaders
- Kills: Anne Makowski, 290 (3.30/set). She ranks sixth in the MVC in kills and kills per set.
- Points: Anne Makowski, 310.5 (3.53/set)
- Hitting: Lily Evans, .264 (.297 in MVC play)
- Blocks: Lily Evans, 66 (0.74/set)
- Assists: Paige Brock, 524 (7.82/set)
- Aces: Paige Brock, 18. Ceren Durak leads per set at 0.32.
- Digs: Ada Tamturk, 260 (3.21/set). She ranks first among MVC freshmen in digs and digs per set.
- Freshman middle: Maezi Snyder is hitting .241 with 153 kills and 58 blocks, second among MVC freshmen in hitting percentage.
