Ronan Summers
Contributing Writer
[email protected]
Murray State opened its 2022 volleyball campaign strong, defeating the University of Southern Indiana in back-to-back games on Friday, Aug. 26 and Saturday, Aug. 27. This places them 2-0 to begin the season. This is the third year in a row where the Racers have won their first pair of games.
Two freshmen outside hitters, Federica Nuccio and Ella Vogel, impressed Head Coach David Schwepker over the weekend as the two finished with 29 and 13 kills, respectively.
Shwepker commented on Nuccio and Vogel’s performances in game two. He said it was a step up from game one and that they really stood out.
“Both of those two did outstanding on that date,” Schwepker said. “Maybe they’ll settle down a little bit more, and I hope they do. They’re both really good players and will help us a lot this season if they keep going.”
GAME ONE
Junior outside hitter Jayla Holcombe recorded 25 kills, and junior middle blocker Darci Metzger had 20. They led the Racers in kills in their first game of the season.
In the first set, Murray State fell to the Screaming Eagles 25-18. The Racers recorded 10 kills and six errors in the first set. Then they flipped the script, recording 18 kills and five errors.
The second set was heavily contested, but the Racers were able to go on a run started by a kill to go up 12-10 by sophomore setter Bailey DeMier. Holcombe then scored three kills in a row.
The run was finished off by a kill coming from Nuccio. Murray State won the second set 25-18 to even the score to 1-1.
The third set was extremely competitive as it went to the 36th point. The Racers were able to get rolling thanks to a service error.
The run continued after Metzger recorded a block and kill back-to-back. The last score of the run was thanks to a kill from Holcombe. Murray State had 21 kills on 61 total attacks and 11 errors in the strenuous set.
Despite a valiant effort, the Racers dropped the third set 36-34.
Though the University of Southern Indiana won the set and went up 2-1 on the Racers, Murray State wasn’t done just yet.
The Racers willed their way back to win the fourth set 28-26. Holcombe scored seven kills in the set. Murray State recorded 20 kills and 11 errors as a team in the fourth set.
The score of the fifth and final set was 16-14 Murray State. The Racers were down 14-13, but were able to go on a run to close out the game. Metzger tied the game up to make it 14-14 after a kill and DeMier and Metzger teamed up for a block to put their team up by a point.
The final point came after a Screaming Eagle attack error to make the score of the fifth and final set 16-14. There were seven Racer kills on 17 total attacks and eight errors.
DeMier was busy in the win as well. She recorded 51 assists and six points. On the defensive side, junior libero Dahlia Miller led the team in digs with 34.
DeMier and Metzger led the team in blocks, both of them recording three each. Murray State’s first game of the season started off shaky, but the Racers were able to gather themselves in the end and pull ahead.
GAME TWO
Murray State followed up game one with their second win of the season. The Racers defeated the Screaming Eagles 3-1 on Saturday, Aug. 27. This was the second matchup between the two teams over the weekend.
On Saturday, Schwepker posed a question to the Racers before their game. He asked them how they would know if they improved from their game on Friday..
The response he was looking for: “We’re playing the same team, so we will know if we got better.”
DeMier led the Racers in assists, recording 43. Nuccio led the team in kills with 18, while Vogel had the second most kills among the Racers with 12. Nuccio also had a presence on the defensive side, totaling seven digs.
Similar to their first matchup against the Screaming Eagles, the Racers lost the first set 25-22. The Racers were behind, but they were able to go up 22-19 after a run started by a kill from Nuccio.
The drive was put to a halt, and the Screaming Eagles capitalized, going on a six point run. Murray State recorded 12 kills and five errors in the only set the team dropped on Saturday.
The second set was the beginning of the end for the Screaming Eagles. Murray State had a much improved second set, winning 25-18 after totaling 17 kills, six errors and a game high of 41 total attacks. The second set ended after a four point run in which Nuccio had two kills during.
The Racers’ dominance continued as they won the third set 25-17. Points came in bunches as they had three three-point runs early on in the set to put them up 9-6.
A four point run padded their lead and the Racers were able to take the third set. Murray State recorded 17 kills on 33 total attacks in the set.
The fourth and final set was the most lopsided, as the Racers won 25-12. They had 11 kills, 30 total attacks and only two errors.
Three University of Southern Indiana attack errors and a kill by junior outside hitter Morgan Price put Murray State up 4-0 to start the set. Price had the final kill of the match, making the final score 3-1.
Miller once again led Murray State in digs, as she ended up with 18. Nuccio ended the match with a total of 18 kills. Vogel closely followed her, scoring 12 kills.
Price led her team in total kills with 37, followed by Nuccio with 36. DeMier finished the day with 43 assists.
The Racers played a very clean game on Saturday, committing a total of only 17 errors. This is a substantial difference to the 41 errors the Racers committed the day prior. Schwepker commented on the improvement in play.
“Everything we do is just to try to get better everyday, just a little bit,” Schwepker said. “We’re not going to fix everything all at once.”
The Racers’ next game will be in Lynchburg, Virginia, at the Liberty Invitational. The Racers are set to play their first game at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 2 against Winthrop University.