The Murray State volleyball team competed in their third straight tournament, going 2-1 in the SIUE Tournament in Edwardsville, Illinois. The Racers played Bellarmine and SIU-Edwardsville on Friday, Sept. 13 and Chattanooga on Saturday, Sept. 14.
Game 1 vs Bellarmine
Murray State lost their opening match of the tournament 3-0 against the Bellarmine Knights but not without competing in all three sets.
The Racers took the lead in the first set 24-22 courtesy of the play by senior Bailey DeMeir, who had 12 of her total 33 assists come in the first set. The Knights called a timeout to compose themselves going into the last part of the set and it paid off. Bellarmine scored four straight points to win the set 26-24. The Knights were led by Maddie Hagan, who had five kills during the set.
The second set saw Bellarmine jump out to a 14-10 lead, but the Racers scored five straight points to take the lead, three of which were kills from Darci Metzger. In a set that saw 12 ties and four lead changes, Murray State couldn’t pull through as the Knights edged by in set two with a 25-22 win. DeMier got 11 more assists for the Racers and Ella Vogel had four kills.
With their backs against the wall, Murray State tried to get a set to keep the match alive but fell short. Bellarmine would take an 11-10 lead and never look back. The Knights won the third set 25-22 and the match.
Ella Vogel finished with a match-high 16 kills and Dahlia Miller tied for the most digs in the match with 13.
Game 2 vs SIUE
The Racers’ second match was against the tournament hosts, the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars.
Murray State battled early to a 14-14 tie with the SIUE, but the Cougars didn’t let Racers catch up with them after that. The Cougars scored four straight points before the Racers found an answer. However, Murray State’s comeback was halted at 20 points as the Cougars scored three straight points to close out the set 25-20. Federica Nuccio led the Racers with four kills in the set.
Murray State fought back in the second set, winning 25-18 and never surrendering the lead to SIUE after they tied the set at 11. Metzger and Vogel had five kills each during the set.
The Racers jumped out to a 12-10 lead early in the third set before SIUE came roaring back. The Cougars scored eight straight points to take an 18-12 lead and snatch all of the momentum from the Racers. Nuccio and Vogel helped bring the Racers within one point with three and four kills, respectively, but couldn’t finish the set. SIUE won 25-23 and took a 2-1 match lead.
Down 2-1, the Racers needed to step in set four to stay in the match. Seven attack errors by SIUE helped Murray State take a 16-9 set lead. The Racers never gave the Cougars a chance to recover, winning the set 25-16 and setting up a decisive fifth set. Lily Burnett led Murray State with four kills in the set.
Tied 2-2 for the match, Murray State and SIUE went point-for-point to start the fifth and final set. The two teams traded points until they were tied 5-5, and the Racers started to run. Murray State would score 10 of the last 13 points of the set to come back and win the match 3-2. The Racers went 1-1 on the day.
Game 3 vs Chattanooga
The final match of the tournament for Murray State came against the Chattanooga Mocs.
Set one was all Murray State. They won the first set 25-11 and never gave Chattanooga an opportunity to win the set. The Mocs scored on a kill from Ashley Taylor to cut the Racer lead to 11-10. Murray State would respond by going on a seven point run before the Mocs would score again, making it 18-11. The Racers went on another seven point run to close out the set. Metzger and Vogel had four kills each and Heidi Miliou had 3.
Chattanooga put up a fight in set two as both teams went point for point until the set was tied at 17. The Racers jumped out to lead but the Mocs kept fighting. The Racer lead was cut to one with the score sitting at 24-23. An untimely attack error by the Mocs gave Murray State the 2-0 match lead. Metzger and Vogel led the way again with five kills each in the set.
Set three saw Murray State grab the lead from the start and never look back. Chattanooga never had a chance to win the set as the Racers won the set 25-16, scoring three straight points to finish off the Mocs.
Head coach David Schwepker said he was “very proud” of how his team played this weekend and that this tournament has him excited for conference play.
“Although it started slow, the girls came together for a common goal and played at a very high level,” Schwepker said.
Murray State’s next match is the Missouri Valley Conference opener against Illinois State in Normal, Illinois on Friday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m.
