For the second time in less than eight hours, the Murray State volleyball swept their opponent, this time taking down the New Orleans Privateers in three sets, 25-22, 25-22, 25-18, Saturday afternoon in the final match of the New Orleans Invitational. The Racers now sit at 2-1 early in the season while UNO falls to 1-2 after the first weekend of the 2018 season.
As was the case earlier in the day against Omaha, Rachel Giustino led the Racers in kills with 20 while Dacia Brown added 11. For their efforts in the three matches over the weekend, both were named to the All-Tournament team. Megan Lindsay also contributed with 10 kills of her own, matching a career-high.
Callie Anderton set a personal best for a three-set match with 42 assists and Katirah Johnson and Alex Kaufmann led the way on defense with three blocks and 13 digs, respectively.
In the first set, the Racers only hit .184 while New Orleans hit an efficient .323, but MSU was able to grab the set anyway, thanks to a couple of aces by Murray State and four service errors by the Privateers. Neither team could pull away early in the set, but with the score tied at 11, two straight kills by Brown and an error by UNO created some breathing room for the Racers. With the score 24-19, New Orleans saved three set points, but Giustino secured the set by floating the ball over the net and sticking it in the back left corner of the court.
Murray State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second set, but UNO responded with a 7-0 run if their own. With the Privateers up 9-7, three straight kills by Giustino gave the Racers the lead back as the back-and-forth play continued. Down 15-14, MSU scored three straight points, including two more kills by Giustino, to take the lead, but again UNO responded with three straight points of their own to snatch the lead right back. Again down by one at 21-20, the Racers went on 5-1 run, culminating in a rocket kill by Lindsay off a Privateer defender, to take the second set.
The Racers saved their best for last as they hit .303 in the third set. New Orleans stayed close early, but a 4-0 run by MSU gave the Racers a 13-8 lead halfway through the set. UNO responded with a 5-1 run, but a 5-0 run by Murray State directly followed which helped put the set away for the Racers as the Privateers were unable to mount a comeback.
Murray State is back in action, Friday at the Saluki Invitational in Carbondale, Illinois, where they will take on Miami (OH) at 1 p.m. and Alabama A&M at 5 p.m. They will close out the tournament on Saturday when they play host Southern Illinois at 3:00.
Courtesy of MSU Athletics