Nick Kendall
Staff writer
nkendall1@murraystate.edu
Heading into the 2019 season, the Murray State Volleyball team has been picked to finish first for back-to-back seasons in the OVC preseason poll.
The Racer’s went 22-9 last year and swept Austin Peay 3-0 in the OVC championship. They fell short to Kentucky 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament but still had a great season.
The defending OVC Champions have added more depth at the outside hitter and libero positions in freshmen, Alysha Smith, Emma Kailiponi and junior, Courtney Swafford.
While the Racers have been given the prestigious honor of being considered the best team in the OVC going into the new season, Head Coach David Schwepker is focused on making sure the team keeps up the constant excellence.
“I already told them no matter what happens, we’re not going to discuss it because it doesn’t matter,” Schwepker said. “All that is off what we did last year and has nothing to do with anything. Nothing’s happened yet so we’ll see what happens at the end of the year. That’s all that matters.”
Senior Rachel Giustino and junior Becca Fernandez were named to the 2019 Preseason All-OVC team. This is Fernandez’s first time being selected, but she’s more focused on her team.
“It is an honor,” Fernandez said. “But I try not to pay attention to that stuff because it’s all based on last year, and it doesn’t really have anything to do with my or the team’s mission this year.”
Fernandez has proven to be a team player as she also won OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Year last year by leading the league with 581 digs, averaging 5.01 digs per set.
Giustino earned this honor for the second time in her career, but just like Fernandez she kept Schwepker’s idea in mind.
“Coach always says that kind of stuff is based on last year and that’s kind of how you have to look at it,” Giustino said. “That really just means that I performed well last year and they’re expecting me to perform well this year, which is just kind of a standard that I have to hold myself to now, but it means really nothing.”
Schwepker is concentrated on the Racers’ first match for the time being.
“We take one match at a time,” Schwepker said. “There’s not one match is more important than the other. Doesn’t matter who we’re playing, how good they are—that’s of no importance to this program. We’ve got to do our thing each time we get on the court.”
The Racers begin their season against Valparaiso at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, at the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational. This is the Racers’ first meeting with the Crusaders since 2014 when their match at the Valparaiso Tournament saw the team lose 3-1.