Jonathan Dunning
Contributing Writer
The Murray State volleyball team lost to the Southeastern Missouri State University Redhawks Oct. 5, marking the Racers’ first OVC loss and causing Murray State to slip to a 3-1 OVC record.
Senior outside hitter Rachel Giustino led the Racers with 21 kills, while senior right-side hitter Rachel Holthaus followed with nine kills. Junior setter and outside hitter Ashley McBee made 35 assists. Junior libero Becca Fernandez led Murray State in digs with 14, while McBee also had eight digs.
The Redhawks opened the first set with a 3-0 lead before the Racers could respond with kills of their own from Holthaus and sophomore middle blocker Kolby McClelland. Afterwards, SEMO jumped to a 5-3 lead, with Murray State eventually closing the gap to make it a 5-5 game. The Redhawks pulled ahead to eight points, but Murray State players Giustino and freshman outside hitter and setter Alysha Smith gave the Racers their first lead of the night with a 9-8 score.
However, the SEMO Redhawks overtook the Racers once again with a 16-15 score. The two teams tied again at 20, with the lead swapping between the Racers and the Redhawks before SEMO won the set with a score of 25-23.
The Redhawks scored the first point of the second set, but the Racers quickly responded with a kill by Holthaus to make the game 1-1. SEMO took the lead once again by jumping to four points but kills by Giustino helped the Racers close the gap to make it a 4-4 game. From this point in the set, the Redhawks maintained a lead over the Racers, plateauing at a score of 16 before kills by Giustino, Holthaus and McBee tied the game at 16.
Further kills by Giustino, Smith and McClelland aided the team in getting to 20 points, but this effort was not enough to stop the SEMO Redhawks from taking the set 25-20.
The Redhawks scored 3 points to open the third set, with Murray State responding with a kill from Holthaus. SEMO continued to mount a significant lead of 6-1 over the Racers. Kills by Giustino and sophomore outside hitter Rachel Kinney helped the Racers close the gap to 11-7, but the Redhawks continued to pull ahead. In the latter half of the set, Giustino scored an impressive six kills, but SEMO still managed to win the set 25-18, allowing the Redhawks to sweep the Racers 3-0.
After the game, Murray State volleyball coach David Schwepker reflected on the Racer’s loss.
“When they (SEMO) did give us easy stuff, which wasn’t very often, we just didn’t pick up any of that stuff and normally we would,” Schwepker said.
McBee also gave her thoughts on Murray State’s performance throughout the night.
“Our defense is the thing that killed us tonight. We just weren’t able to stop their offense and offense wins games,” McBee said.
In their next game, the Racers will face-off against the Austin Peay Governors on Wednesday, Oct. 9, in Clarksville, Tennessee.
