Rachel Essner
Contributing Writer
The Racer volleyball team competed against Tennessee State on Sunday, Feb. 7, and Monday, Feb. 8, at The Racer Arena. The Racers won three straight sets (25-17, 25-11, 25-21) to take the win in their season opener and triumphed after five sets (25-14, 28-26, 20-25, 25-27, 15-12) to bring their overall record to 2-0.
Game One
In the first game, freshman outside hitter Jayla Holcombe led the Racers with 14 kills, junior libero Becca Fernadez picked up 18 digs and senior setter Callie Anderton totaled 37 assists to start the season 1-0 in the OVC.
“Jayla had a really good opening match and played very well,” said Head Coach David Schwepker. “Our setter Callie did a very nice job of distributing the ball and Becca, of course, did a great job of passing and playing defense. They all worked very well together and helped us out.”
Murray State opened the first set strong with an 8-3 lead. The Tigers came back fighting to bring the score to 9-7 with Murray State still in the lead. The Racers forced Tennessee State into calling a timeout after a 10-5 run, making the score 19-12. Murray State finished the first set strong, winning 25-17.
The Racers opened the second set with a 4-0. Murray State continued their run with Fernandez serving nine consecutive serves, bringing the score to 13-2. Redshirt junior Middle Blocker Kolby McClelland raked in another kill, ending the set at 25-11.
Murray State lost some momentum during the third set as the score was tied at 12, but came back on a 4-0 run after a kill from freshman Darci Metzger and a service ace from Holcombe. After going back and forth for a few points, the Racers came back and won 25-21 thanks to Holcombe’s kills on the last two points.
“I was really proud of the whole team,” Schwepker said. “Our freshmen were able to hold their own and did very well. They did a pretty good job of going after it and not backing down.
Game Two
Murray State finished their series against Tennessee State on Feb. 8, winning 3-2 in a five-set match (25-14, 28-26, 20-25, 25-27, 15-12) at the Racer Arena.
The hitters boosted their stats with three double-digit kills coming from redshirt junior Kolby McClelland tallying a career high of 19, freshman Jayla Holcombe with 11 and freshman Darci Metzger with 10.
Senior Callie Anderton finished the game with 49 assists while junior Becca Fernandez ended with a total of 21 digs and freshman Dahlia Miller counted up 17 digs of her own.
The Racers had a repeat of Sunday night in their first set with a 25-14 win after a winning kill from junior Emily Matson.
Tennessee State came out strong in the second set, pushing the game into extra points. However, the Racers scored three straight points to take the set 28-26.
Tennessee State cruised into the third set, taking a 5-0 and 6-0 run to bring the score to 14-6. The Racers jumped back and brought the score to 21-20 after kills from Metzger and a service ace from McClelland. However, the Tigers were able to take the last four points and win the set 20-25.
The Tigers carried that momentum into the fourth set, taking an 11-3 lead over the Racers. Murray State tied the game at 23 after three service aces. Tennessee State, however, won the set 27-25 in extra points.
Tennessee State jumped ahead in the fifth set, taking a 9-5 lead over the Racers. Murray State fought back with an 8-2 run to push past the Tigers and take the lead at 13-11. McClelland tallied another kill followed by a Tennessee State attack error to lead the Racers to victory with a 15-12 win in the final set.
“Tennessee State fixed a lot of the mistakes from the first day,” Schwepker said. “They are a great team with a lot of offensive weapons. We learned so many things from our team and what to work on if we want to do well, but I’m glad we were able to get the win while still learning.”
The Racers will travel to take on Morehead State on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m.