Rachel Essner
Contributing Writer
The Murray State volleyball team traveled to Clarksville, Tennessee on Sunday, March 7, and Monday, March 8, to take on Austin Peay State University. The Racers fell 0-2 in the two-game series, bringing their record to 4-6 overall.
Game One
Murray State took Austin Peay to four sets in the first game, winning one out of four (23-25, 25-19, 18-25, 22-25).
Freshman opposite hitter Jayla Holcombe led the Racers with 20 kills, two digs and one block. Freshman middle blocker Darci Metzger followed with a season-high 16 kills while redshirt junior middle blocker Kolby McClelland contributed 11 kills.
“We hit .234, which is really good for our team because we had not been doing so well,” said Head Coach David Schwepker. “Jayla, Darci and Kolby were all very solid for us and didn’t make a lot of errors and played their roles very well. Austin Peay was just able to hit better than we did.”
Senior setter Callie Anderton set a career-high 19 digs while also adding four service aces and 43 assists. Junior libero Becca Fernandez collected 24 digs and six assists.
The Racers opened the first set with a 5-1 run, with kills from Holcombe and Metzger, but the Governors retaliated with a 7-0 run to take the lead at 8-5. Both sides used 4-0 runs to tie the game at 14. With the Governors ahead 23-19, the Racers were able to come within two points, but fell 25-23.
Austin Peay took an early lead in the second set at 4-0 on a ball handling error from Anderton, an attack error by Holcombe and two attack errors by Metzger. However, the Racers fought back, tying the game at eight and scoring seven straight points with three service aces from Anderton and kills from Holcombe and junior outside Emily Matson. The teams battled for points during the rest of the set until Metzger dropped three kills to win 25-19.
Murray State scored the first point of set three, but a 7-0 run put Austin Peay on top. Murray State fired back with a 4-1 run, but the Governors took the 25-18 win to give them a 2-1 set lead.
Kills from Holcombe and Matson and a service ace from Fernandez tied the fourth set at three. A 4-0 run from Austin Peay and a 5-0 run from Murray State put the Racers on top at 8-7. The teams tied the score 13 times all the way up to 22-22. The Governors used two kills and a service ace to take the set to 25-22 and the game to 3-1.
“I thought we played well and hung with them, but they were just the better team,” Schwepker said.
Game Two
The Racers fell to the Governors again in three sets (25-17, 25-18, 25-15) on Monday, March 8.
Holcombe was the top Racer for the fourth game in a row with 10 kills and two digs while McClelland contributed six kills. Anderton tallied 19 kills and nine digs, followed by Fernandez with 10 digs, two assists and one service ace.
Murray State got an early lead in the first set with three straight kills from Holcombe, bringing the score to 4-1. A kill from McClelland and a service ace from Fernandez put the Racers ahead 9-5. The Governors retaliated with a 6-0 run to take the lead at 14-11. Freshman outside hitter Morgan Price brought the Racers back into the game with three straight blocks and a kill to give the Racers a 15-14 advantage. Austin Peay used an 11-3 run with eight points in a row to close out the first set 25-18.
The teams began the second set trading points, until Austin Peay’s senior outside hitter Chloe Stitt scored three straight kills to take the lead at 7-3. The Racers fought back, and came within two points at 15-13 but were unable to surpass the Governors who took the set 25-18.
Kills from Anderton and Holcombe tied the third set at three points. The Governors, however, used a kill, followed by three blocks in a row, to take the lead at 7-3. Using a 7-1 run consisting of three kills, a block and a service ace, Austin Peay doubled Murray State’s score at 20-10. The teams traded points until the Governors came out on top with 25-15 to win the match 3-0.
“It’s a big deal playing home versus away,” Schwepker said. “The teams are more likely to win at home than away, especially with our own younger players, but that is just a part of growing up. You can’t get experience without experience.”
The Racers will return to Racer Arena to take on Eastern Illinois University on Sunday, March 14, at 6 p.m., and Monday, March 15, at 4 p.m.