The Racers began their season going 1-2 at the Stacheville Challenge, which was hosted at the Winfield Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee. They played Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech and Xavier on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 29-30.
Match 1 vs Austin Peay
Murray State began the first set strong, taking a 9-3 lead before Austin Peay got back in the game, diminishing the early lead and causing the set to be back and forth between the two teams. By the end of the first set, the Racers had secured the lead and won 25-21.
Austin Peay managed to score early in the second set but was unable to capitalize on it as their errors increased to 10, falling to the Racers 25-18. After 12 total ties in the third set, Austin Peay managed to win with a 27-25 score. The Racers immediately responded in the fourth set with 13 kills and a score of 25-18. Senior outside hitter Ella Vogel reached a season high 22 kills followed by two assists, while both senior outside hitter Federica Nuccio and freshman outside hitter Mija Sagadin Pristovnik had 10 kills each. The three of them were responsible for 48.5 of the team’s 67 total points.
Match 2 vs Tennessee Tech
The match began with Tennessee Tech taking an early lead, followed by the Racers’ quick response. After tying the game 9 separate times and the score alternating 4 times, their attempts fell short and the Racers lost the first set 25-22.
The Racer’s offense struggled going into the second set, and they had difficulty matching Tennessee Tech’s lead early on. Due to both offensive and defensive challenges, Tennessee Tech was able to take the second set as well in a 25-20 score.
The third set went similarly to the second as there was a lead early on from the Eagles that was out of grasp to recover from as the offense had trouble scoring. The Racers struggled to gain the momentum in the third set and fell short again 25-20 after failing to catch up from the start.
Match 3 vs Xavier
The game began with a close score between the two teams but as the game progressed, the deficit became larger with Xavier eventually taking the set in a 25-17 lead. The second set was a back and forth between the Racers and Musketeers, both errors and kills causing the lead to change at multiple points in the match. The Racers held on to their lead and took the second set 30-28.
Following the second set, the Racers struggled to keep up with their previous offensive firepower, allowing the Musketeers to take a large lead in both the third and fourth set, winning the third set 25-11and the fourth 25-10.
Freshman libero Halle Forester had a career-high 16 digs game. Alongside 14 kills, Nuccio also had 10 digs of her own and 14 total points, which is a season high for her as well.
The Racers play again on Friday, Sep. 5 at 10 a.m. against Western Illinois and 7 p.m. against Saint Louis University at the Billiken Invitational in SttLouis.
