Rachel Essner
Staff Writer
[email protected]

The Murray State volleyball team split a two-game series with Southeast Missouri State University during their senior night weekend at Racer Arena on Friday, Nov. 5, and Saturday, Nov. 6. 

Game One

Murray State dropped the first game of the series to the Redhawks 3-1. 

Murray State took the early lead in the first set at 12-6 with kills from sophomore opposite hitter Jayla Holcombe, senior middle blocker Kolby McClelland, senior outside hitter Emily Matson and freshman outside hitter Brooke Lynn Watts. SEMO fought back with a 13-2 run, taking the lead at 21-15. The Racers regained the lead after an 8-1 run put them ahead 24-23. The Redhawks, however, took control, closing out the set 27-25. 

The teams tied the score at eight in the second set with kills from McClelland and sophomore middle blocker Taylor Beasley and blocks from McClelland, Holcombe and freshman outside hitter Alexa Harris. The Redhawks, however, took off on a 17-5 scoring run and closed out the set 25-13. 

The Racers turned the third set around as they jumped to an early 10-4 lead with kills from McClelland, Harris, Watts and freshman setter Bailey DeMier. SEMO closed the gap, tying the score at 16. Murray State, however, answered with a 7-1 run to take the lead at 23-17. The Redhawks scored four straight points, but still trailed the Racers 24-22 when a kill from Holcombe finished the set 25-22. 

SEMO kept control of the fourth set as they jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. After trading points with the Racers, the Redhawks increased their lead to 22-13 with an 8-2 run before ultimately finishing the set 25-17 and taking the game 3-1. 

Watts led the Racers’ offense with 14 kills followed by Holcombe with 11 and Harris with nine. Holcombe counted five block assists while Beasley had three and McClelland added two. 

Senior libero Becca Fernandez collected 24 digs to lead the Racers’ defense while sophomore defensive specialist Dahlia Miller added 15 and DeMier finished with 11. DeMier also tallied 39 assists to record a double-double. 

Game Two

After honoring seniors McClelland, Matson, Fernandez and manager Drew Langston, Murray State swept SEMO 3-0 to finish their last weekend home game. 

The teams stayed close in points in the first set, tying the score at 14 with kills from Matson, McClelland, Watts, Holcombe, DeMier and Beasley. Murray State used a 7-2 run to take the lead at 21-16 before eventually closing the set 25-22. 

Kills from Holcombe, Matson, Watts and Beasley put the Racers ahead 9-4 in the second set. The teams traded points until tying the score at 21. With four straight points, the Racers finished the set 25-21. 

The teams tied the score at 11 in the third set before the Racers used a 5-1 run to take the lead at 16-12 with kills from Holcombe, Matson and McClelland and a block from Matson and McClelland. The Racers followed with a 6-0 run to lead 22-15. A kill from Holcombe sealed the set at 25-21, and the game 3-0. 

Watts finished with 12 kills to lead the Racers’ offense followed by Holcombe with nine kills and Beasley with six. Beasley and Matson each counted two solo blocks while McClelland finished with three block assists. 

Fernandez led the defense with 17 digs, followed by Miller with 13 and Matson with nine. DeMier tallied 32 assists. 

The Racers will close out the regular season as they take on Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Friday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. in Edwardsville, Illinois.