Murray State University Athletics
Tuesday, September 4
Evansville, Ind.
7:00 p.m.
Murray State
at
Evansville
Volleyball To Take On Evansville In Lone Match of the Week
9/4/2012 10:26:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Fresh off its tournament win at the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Highlander Invitational, the Murray State volleyball team will travel to Evansville on Tuesday for a key, regional match-up that is set to begin at 7 p.m.
The Racers (2-4) opened play at Radford last weekend with their first victory of the 2012 season, a 3-0 win over The Citadel. On Saturday, MSU began a doubleheader with a tough 3-2 loss to St. Francis (PA), in which it battled from two sets down only to fall in the decisive fifth set.
In the tournament finale, Murray State sealed the tournament championship by taking down the host, Radford, in straight sets. After the tournament, senior setter Lia Havili (Haltom City, Texas) was named as the most valuable player, while freshman Taylor Olden (Lincoln, Ill.) was named to the all-tournament team.
Havili tallied 72 assists (6.55 per set) on the weekend with four kills, 25 digs and a .667 attack percentage, while Olden had 29 kills (2.64 per set), 23 digs, seven block assists and one ace.
Freshman Alyssa Lelm (Mackinaw, Ill.) also had a big weekend for the Racers as she notched six solo blocks and 11 block assists for 17 total. In the match against Radford, Lelm notched six kills, two solo blocks and six block assists.
Her 5.0 total blocks helped the Racers tally 14.0 as a team, just two off the fifth best three-set performance in program history. It also marked the first time that MSU has recorded 14.0 or more team blocks since Oct. 7, 2005 at Morehead State.
Live stats for Tuesday night's match are available by clicking here.
Scouting The Opponent:
Evansville (2-4): The Purple Aces went 1-2 last weekend at Morehead State's Comfort Inn & Suites Invitational. Evansville opened the tournament with 3-0 win over Alabama State, but closed out the weekend with identical 1-3 losses to Morehead and Northern Kentucky. Evansville currently has a .162 kill percentage and averages 14.3 digs per game, compared to .174 and 14.3 for the Racers. Helping lead the Purple Aces thus far in the season is Ashley Ring with 82 kills (3.90 per set), a .192 attack percentage, 57 digs, three solo blocks and 13 block assists.
The Series: Tuesday will mark the 27th all-time meeting between the two teams and the 14th at Evansville's Carson Center. The Purple Aces currently lead the series 15-11 overall and 9-4 on their home court. The Racers have lost the last five matches in a row in the series with the last win coming on Sep. 16, 1997 at Evansville.
Done & Done: With the win against The Citadel, the Racers put an end to a 15-game losing streak against non-conference teams. The last win against a non-conference opponent prior to last weekend came on Sep. 11, 2010 against Western Carolina at Evansville's UE Dunn Hospitality Tournament.
What's Next: The Racers will be off for nearly two weeks after Tuesday before travelling to Morgantown, W.V., for the Blue & Gold Classic. MSU will look to avenge an a loss earlier this season against Cleveland State on Saturday, Sep. 15 at 1 p.m., followed by the tournament finale on Sunday, Sep. 16 with host West Virginia, also at 1 p.m.
The Racers (2-4) opened play at Radford last weekend with their first victory of the 2012 season, a 3-0 win over The Citadel. On Saturday, MSU began a doubleheader with a tough 3-2 loss to St. Francis (PA), in which it battled from two sets down only to fall in the decisive fifth set.
In the tournament finale, Murray State sealed the tournament championship by taking down the host, Radford, in straight sets. After the tournament, senior setter Lia Havili (Haltom City, Texas) was named as the most valuable player, while freshman Taylor Olden (Lincoln, Ill.) was named to the all-tournament team.
Havili tallied 72 assists (6.55 per set) on the weekend with four kills, 25 digs and a .667 attack percentage, while Olden had 29 kills (2.64 per set), 23 digs, seven block assists and one ace.
Freshman Alyssa Lelm (Mackinaw, Ill.) also had a big weekend for the Racers as she notched six solo blocks and 11 block assists for 17 total. In the match against Radford, Lelm notched six kills, two solo blocks and six block assists.
Her 5.0 total blocks helped the Racers tally 14.0 as a team, just two off the fifth best three-set performance in program history. It also marked the first time that MSU has recorded 14.0 or more team blocks since Oct. 7, 2005 at Morehead State.
Live stats for Tuesday night's match are available by clicking here.
Scouting The Opponent:
Evansville (2-4): The Purple Aces went 1-2 last weekend at Morehead State's Comfort Inn & Suites Invitational. Evansville opened the tournament with 3-0 win over Alabama State, but closed out the weekend with identical 1-3 losses to Morehead and Northern Kentucky. Evansville currently has a .162 kill percentage and averages 14.3 digs per game, compared to .174 and 14.3 for the Racers. Helping lead the Purple Aces thus far in the season is Ashley Ring with 82 kills (3.90 per set), a .192 attack percentage, 57 digs, three solo blocks and 13 block assists.
The Series: Tuesday will mark the 27th all-time meeting between the two teams and the 14th at Evansville's Carson Center. The Purple Aces currently lead the series 15-11 overall and 9-4 on their home court. The Racers have lost the last five matches in a row in the series with the last win coming on Sep. 16, 1997 at Evansville.
Done & Done: With the win against The Citadel, the Racers put an end to a 15-game losing streak against non-conference teams. The last win against a non-conference opponent prior to last weekend came on Sep. 11, 2010 against Western Carolina at Evansville's UE Dunn Hospitality Tournament.
What's Next: The Racers will be off for nearly two weeks after Tuesday before travelling to Morgantown, W.V., for the Blue & Gold Classic. MSU will look to avenge an a loss earlier this season against Cleveland State on Saturday, Sep. 15 at 1 p.m., followed by the tournament finale on Sunday, Sep. 16 with host West Virginia, also at 1 p.m.
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