The Racers lost all three games in their third series of the season, which started on Friday, Sept. 12, against Weber State and University of Iowa at Houck Field House and ended against Southeast Missouri State University on Saturday, Sept. 13.
Match 1 vs Weber State
Murray State kicked off the series on Friday with a 0-3 loss against Weber State. The Racers started the game with an early lead in the first set. However, Weber State was able to maintain a close score, tying the set nine separate times before taking the set 27-25. The Racers kept the score within reach until the end as they had 16 kills in the first set alone, a high for the entire match.
With the momentum of the first set, Weber State continued their offensive streak, taking a swift lead. Despite the gap in scores, Murray State was able to respond with their own offense, provided by kills from senior outside hitters Ella Vogel and Federcia Nuccio. Even though they were able to take the lead momentarily, they fell behind in the set and were unable to come back for a second time. Weber State took the second set 25-23.
Murray State’s offensive struggles continued as they were swept 25-13 in the final set.
Despite the continuous offensive struggles, many players are having career-high seasons. Vogel leads the team with 104 kills, 18 in this game alone. Junior outside hitter Bailey Keusch had a season high 13 digs, almost half of her 32 total digs last season.
Match 2 vs University of Iowa
Murray State was defeated in three sets against the University of Iowa on Sept. 12. Following the same struggles as the earlier game, the Racers failed to score early on, causing Iowa to take an early lead that the Racers couldn’t come back from. Iowa went on to win the set 25-11.
In the first half of the second set, their offense was more consistent and kept the score close. This offensive surge did not last long as Iowa picked back up and created a large lead as soon as the Racers began catching up. Iowa bounced back and won the set 25-15 after a close first half.
The third set, however, was much closer than the previous two, as both teams made increasingly more errors. Throughout the entire set, the scores remained close, with 11 tied scores and five lead changes. At multiple times in the game, one team would lead by around five points before the other team would catch up and have a short lead of their own. In the end, Iowa came out on top with a close score of 25-23.
Freshman outside hitter Mija Pristovnik and junior outside hitter Lily Burnett both lead the game with eight kills while freshman libero Halle Forester had eight digs.
Match 3 vs Southeast Missouri State University
The Racers lost their last game of the series 0-3 on Saturday, Sept. 13. After Friday’s losses due to a weak offense, Southeast Missouri State took an early lead on the Racers. Following a near 10 point lead, the Racers were able to grab the momentum for a moment but inevitably fell short as Southeast Missouri State took the first set 25-19.
The second set was filled with constant kills from SEMO. The Racers struggled to get to double digits until the end of the set while the Redhawks had a comfortable lead and were able to take the set 25-13. Even though the first two sets started out one-sided, the Racers began the third set with more offensive power than displayed previously. The Racers were able to tie the score three times and took the lead two times before the Redhawks offense picked up once again which caused them to secure the 25-15 win.
Even with the struggles scoring within the game, Vogel, Nuccio and Burnett all had five kills. Forester had nine digs and freshman libero Samantha Nelson had eight, which is a season high for her. The Racers are now 2-7 on the season.
The Racers’ next game is at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25 against Belmont in Allen Arena.
