Photo by MSU Athletics
This Weekend
The Murray State volleyball team opens its 2018 season with three games at the New Orleans Invitational in New Orleans, La. The Racers open play Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. against Houston before playing two matches on Saturday, beginning with Omaha a 10 a.m. and closing with host New Orleans at 5 p.m.
2017 Recap
After being picked fourth in the OVC preseason poll, the Racers finished the season with a 22-9 record and a 12-4 conference record, good enough for third. As the third seed in the OVC Tournament, they defeated Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois, each in four sets, to advance to the title game against top-seed and host Austin Peay. The Racers took the first and third sets of the match, but the Governors won the final two sets to win the title and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Experience
MSU enters the 2018 as one of the most experienced teams in the nation as they return 12 players, losing just Olivia Chatham to graduation. Rachel Giustino, Rachel Holthaus and Katirah Johnson are all on the All-OVC Preseason team after being named All-OVC a season ago. They also return Callie Anderton, who led the team with 639 assists, as well as Ashley McBee and Courtney Radle, who each had over 330 assists themselves. On defense, Becca Fernandez and Alex Kaufmann both return to the court after combining for over 900 digs. Dacia Brown and Liza Gober will provide the senior leadership on the team, especially Brown, who is a fifth-year senior and has been a part of three championship-winning squads.
New Faces
The Racers welcome two new additions to Murray this season, as Rachel Kinney and Emily Matson join the team as freshmen. Kinney comes from Indianapolis while Matson is a resident of Waukesha, Wisconsin. Both will play at the outside hitter position.
Preseason Poll
The Racers were tabbed as favorites in the preseason OVC poll, slightly edging out defending champion Austin Peay. MSU collected 230 points, including 10 first-place votes, while Austin Peay had 227 points and 14 first-place votes. SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Kentucky round out the top four.
Scouting Houston
The Cougars are coming off a 12-16 season overall in 2017 and an 8-12 mark in conference play. Houston’s season won the final two matches of the season, both against Tulane, but did not qualify for the AAC Tournament. The Cougars had four players with over 200 kills, but only return Megan Duncan, who led the team with 260. They also bring back their primary setter, Abby Irvine, who led the team with 653 assists. Houston led the the conference in aces, but must replace the top two servers in the AAC, Brianna Gardner and Sarah Afflerbaugh.
Scouting Omaha
The Mavericks went 10-18 overall and 7-7 in the Summit League in 2017, falling in the Summit League Championship quarterfinals to North Dakota State to conclude their season. They return a plethora of talent to the court this year, as four players who had over 200 kills in 2017, including Bella Sade, who paced the team with 242 and was named Summit League Freshman of the Year, suit up for the Mavericks again this season. They also return Abby Bergsten, who earned All-Summit Honrable Mention, and Anna Blaschko and Claire Mountjoy were named to the All-Freshman team. Omaha’s lone first-team member, Sydney O’Shaughnessy, graduated after racking up 1,045 assists to put her over 4,000 for her career, second most in Mavericks history.
Scouting New Orleans
The 2017 volleyball season saw the Privateers go 12-16 and 6-10 in the Southland Conference. Blessing Dunn, Lane Hindenburg, and Kaitlyn Grice return to the court as seniors after leading the team in kills a season ago. Grice earned All-Southland Honorable mention honors in 2017 after recording 223 kills and a team-high 133 blocks. Manela Grau also returns as a senior after leading the team with 603 assists while Sarah Thomas also returns after recording 427 assists.
Courtesy of MSU Athletics
