Story by Maggiann Ackerman
Contributing writer
mackerman@murraystate.edu
Racer volleyball remained undefeated in Racer Arena following a 3-0 sweep over Tennessee Tech 25-15, 25-15 and 25-8.
In the first set of the game Murray State came out strong, taking a 6-1 lead over the Eagles thanks to prominent hits by Murray State senior middle blocker Dacia Brown. In addition, Tennessee Tech was unable to get on top of the ball, resulting in several hitting errors.
The Golden Eagles attempted to patch up the grave they dug themselves in with stellar kills executed by Tennessee Tech sophomore hitter Ali Verzani and freshman hitter Erica Grant to make the score 11-8.
Momentum continued in the Golden Eagles’ favor in the first set, as a 5-0 run gave the Eagles a 13-12 lead.
However, their hopes were cut short when a hitting error made by Tennessee Tech junior middle blocker Rachel Thomas gave possession back to Murray State.
The Racers capitalized on this opportunity by going on a strong 9-0 run of their own, with unreturnable hits by Brown and Murray State junior hitter Megan Lindsay helping contribute.
Tennessee Tech continued making errors at the net, and its fate was sealed 25-15 with wisely placed hits from the back row by Murray State junior outside hitter Rachel Giustino, along from the front row by Brown.
In the second set, Tennessee Tech minimized errors, and despite a great dig by Giustino, the Eagles took an early 6-3 lead over the Racers.
Tennessee Tech, however, returned to its old ways by once again making errors and allowed the Racers to take their first lead of the set 8-7.
Murray State was able to take back the lead for the rest of the set with Giustino once again showing off her back row attacking abilities to make the score 15-10 and forcing Tennessee Tech to call a timeout.
After the timeout, the Racers improved the lead to 19-10 due to Murray State junior hitter Rachel Holthaus laying down several massive kills and a crafty slide flawlessly demonstrated by Murray State sophomore middle blocker Katirah Johnson.
The Eagles were unable to recover, and Murray State went on to win the set 25-15.
In the final set, Giustino and Brown came out ready to protect their home court with kills by Giustino, and a pair of aces by Brown to put the Racers up 12-4.
Looking frazzled and uncomfortable, Tennessee Tech continued to make errors to further Murray State’s lead 17-7.
A fearless attack by Murray State freshman hitter Emily Matson, great digs by Giustino along with Fernandez gave Brown the ability to finish off a long volley with a great kill to make the score 21-8.
The aggressive approach by Giustino and a smartly placed tip by Murray State sophomore setter Ashley McBee was the nail in the coffin for the Eagles, and the set concluded 25-8.
The Racers were able to out-dig the Eagles 59-41 and had several players hitting over .300. Brown bragged about her team’s work ethic to make these statistics possible.
“I think it was a good week at practice,” Brown said. “Every week we practice we’re getting better and improve on the week before. We work hard during practice, changed some things, and applied it this game.”
After the game, Lindsay and Brown were enthusiastic to learn her team was on a six-game winning streak and discussed the team’s attitude moving forward.
“Well I didn’t know [about the winning streak], but that’s awesome,” Lindsay said. “We take the victory, we celebrate it, and then we move onto the next game, and see how we can get better and keep on building as a team.”
Murray State will look to continue its winning streak when they host Jacksonville State at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, at Racer Arena.