Murray State volleyball traveled to Springfield, Missouri and Carbondale, Illinois this past weekend for matches against the Missouri State Bears and the Southern Illinois Salukis.
Oct. 25 @ Missouri State
The Murray State Racers defeated the Missouri State Bears in a 3-1 match on Friday night in Springfield, Missouri.
The Racers came out strong in the opening set, winning 25-21 with an impressive 18 kills and a .275 hitting percentage. Missouri State bounced back in the second set getting 25-14 and holding the Racers to their lowest attacking percentage of the night at .089.
The Racers came fighting back in the third, winning 25-17 and keeping the momentum with a determined team effort. The fourth set saw both teams battling for the edge, but the Racers secured it with a 25-23 victory, with Ella Vogel delivered the winning kill.
Vogel led the Racers’ offense with 14 kills assisted by teammates Lily Burnett and Federica Nuccio, who added 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Bailey DeMier set up the offense effectively, contributing 48 assists, while Dahlia Miller anchored the defense with a match-high 36 digs.
Missouri State’s Rilynn Finley recorded 17 kills, with Aniya Joseph and Maddy Bushnell adding 14 and 10 kills. Morgan Sprague played a key role with 42 assists and 12 digs, and Kate Owen led the team in digs with 20.
Though the Bears out-blocked the Racers 8-7, but Murray State outperformed Missouri State in several key areas, leading in kills 61-54, aces 3-1 and assists 55-50.
Oct. 26 @ SIU
The Racers defeated the Southern Illinois University Salukis in five sets on the road on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Murray State quickly took the lead of the first set with a 5-0 serving run by Haidi Miliou. They ended the set up 25-20. The Salukis took a 6-1 run to start the second set. Federica Nuccio went on a 4-0 serve run to get the Racers ahead 12-10, but they could not hold the lead. Murray State took the set loss 25-23. The Racers took an early lead and maintained it through the third set, making the game 2-1. Southern Illinois’ Larissa Seger went on a 6-0 run to win the fourth set 25-16, tying up the game 2-2.
The teams tossed the lead back and forth at the beginning of the final set. After meeting 10-10, Bailey DeMier served the set out for a score of 15-10.
Lily Burnett led the team with a career-high 19 kills. DeMier proved to be a defensive and offensive threat with 12 digs and a season-high 54 assists. Dahlia Miller led both teams with 24 digs. Ella Vogel and Nuccio followed close behind with 14 digs each. Vogel scored 15 kills, Nuccio had 7 and Darci Metzger finished with 12.
The Racers moved into fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference this weekend, while Missouri State slid to ninth and SIU to eighth.
Murray State will host their next game against University of Northern Iowa on Friday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m. at Racer Arena.
