The Student Newspaper of Murray State

The Murray State News

The Murray State News

The Murray State News

Volleyball sweep Tennessee Tech at home

Freshman+setter+Bailey+DeMier+led+the+Racers+with+77+assists+in+their+two+wins+over+Tennessee+Tech.+Photo+courtesy+of+Racers+Athletics.
Freshman setter Bailey DeMier led the Racers with 77 assists in their two wins over Tennessee Tech. Photo courtesy of Racers Athletics.

Rachel Essner
Staff Writer
[email protected]

 

The Murray State volleyball team added two wins to their record as they swept a two-game series against Tennessee Tech University on Friday, Oct. 15, and Saturday, Oct. 16, at Racer Arena. 

Game One

The Racers swept the first game, winning in three straight sets against the Golden Eagles. 

The Golden Eagles jumped out to a quick 11-5 lead in the first set. The Racers fought back, rattling off five straight points, but still trailed 14-12. However, an 8-1 run put the Racers on top at 24-20, with kills from freshman outside hitter Alexa Harris and sophomore opposite hitter Jayla Holcombe and service aces from freshman outside hitter Brooke Lynn Watts and senior libero Becca Fernandez. Another kill from Harris sealed the set at 25-21. 

The teams began the second set by trading points, tying the score at 10. With a 6-0 run, the Racers were able to take the lead at 16-10 with kills from senior middle blocker Kolby McClelland and freshman setter Bailey DeMier. Both teams scored back-and-forth, until a kill from Harris finished the set at 25-18. 

Murray State led the third set 5-4 with kills from Holcombe, Harris, Watts and sophomore middle blocker Taylor Beasley. The Racers didn’t look back as they refused to let the Golden Eagles take the lead from them. The score stayed close between the teams, with the Racers’ biggest lead being four points at 16-12. However, the Racers were able to close out the set at 25-21, taking the match 3-0. 

Harris led the Racers’ offense with 17 kills and a .548 hitting percentage with no errors. Watts and McClelland each finished with nine kills and Holcombe counted six. 

Fernandez collected 11 digs to lead the defense while Watts and Harris counted eight and seven respective digs. DeMier tallied 39 assists. 

Game Two

Murray State won the second game of the series in four sets against Tennessee Tech. 

The teams fought back-and-forth in the first set, tying the score at 15 with kills from McClelland, Watts, Beasley, Holcombe, Harris and DeMier along with a solo block from Holcombe and block assists from Holcombe and McClelland. The Racers were able to get game point at 24-23, but with three straight blocks, the Golden Eagles were able to steal the set at 26-24. 

Tennessee Tech grabbed the lead early in the second set at 6-4. However, an 11-3 run put Murray State ahead 15-9. The Racers extended their lead to 23-15 when a block by McClelland and a kill from Watts finished the set 25-16. 

Murray State opened the third set with three straight service aces from DeMier. Kills from DeMier, Harris, McClelland and sophomore middle blocker Darci Metzger advanced the Racers’ lead to 8-3. The Golden Eagles were able to shorten the gap to 14-13 with the Racers still in the lead. Four straight points gave the Racers a 23-17 lead, but three attack errors from the Racers made the score 24-22. However, with a block from Metzger and Holcombe and a kill from McClelland, the Racers closed out the set 25-22. 

The fourth set was a game of runs for each team. A kill from Metzger, two kills from Watts and two service aces from DeMier gave the Racers a quick 5-1 lead. The Golden Eagles responded with a 5-0 run of their own, making the score 7-6. From there, the Racers went on a 10-1 run to regain the lead at 17-10 with kills from McClelland, Harris and Watts, a block from McClelland and Watts and a service ace apiece from Harris and sophomore defensive specialist Dahlia Miller. The Racers finished the fourth set 25-16, with three straight points including a kill from Harris and a service ace from Miller, to take the match 3-1. 

Watts finished with 16 kills to lead the offense, followed by McClelland with 10 kills and Holcombe and Harris with eight kills each. 

Fernandez led the defense with 17 digs, followed by DeMier, who finished with 10 digs, 38 assists and seven service aces. Miller contributed nine digs and three service aces while Watts added eight digs. 

The Racers will hit their home court again to start off Homecoming Weekend on Thursday, Oct. 22, and Friday, Oct. 23, against Tennessee State University at 6 p.m. both days.

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