Four Racers earned All-OVC honors, Wednesday, led by sophomore Becca Fernandez, who was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Year. Junior Rachel Giustino and senior Dacia Brown joined Fernandez on the All-OVC first team while junior Rachel Holthausearned a spot on the second team.
Fernandez led the OVC with 5.89 digs per set during conference play, picking up three OVC Defensive Player of the Week awards along the way. She currently is riding a 25-match streak of ten digs or more and has had more than 20 digs in a match 13 times and more than 30 digs twice, including a career-high 38 in just three sets against Eastern Illinois. Her 521 total digs and counting is the ninth highest total in Racer history, surpassing her total of 501 from a season ago.
Fernandez is just the fourth player in program in program history to earn Defensive Player of the Year, joining Ellie Lorenz (2016), Kayleah Sauer (2009), and Heather Norris (2006). She also became just the 18th player in Murray State history to reach 1,000 career digs.
Giustino earns First Team All-OVC honors for the second season in a row after leading the OVC with 4.02 kills per set, the only player in the OVC to average over four kills a set as well as the only player to tally over 400 total kills as she had 414. During conference play, she was third with an average of 3.90 kills per set. The Algonquin, Illinois native also earned OVC Offensive Player of the Week honors twice, both coming during league play.
Giustino was also the only player in the OVC to be in the top ten in kills and digs as she averaged 3.73 digs per set, which led to 18 double-doubles, including 15 of them in OVC action. The junior also became the first Racer since 2016 with a 20-20 game as she tallied 20 kills and 26 digs in a win over Southeast Missouri. She also led the team with 25 service aces and was third on the team with 46 blocks.
Dacia Brown claimed a spot on the All-OVC first team for the first time after averaging a career-best 3.83 kills per set, second-highest in the OVC. She actually did slightly better in league play, averaging 3.84 kills per set which was fourth in the conference. Brown was third on the team with a .227 hitting percentage and fourth with 44 blocks. She also earned OVC Offensive Player of the Week after racking up 34 kills while hitting .370 in two wins over Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.
Rachel Holthaus impressed voters enough to earn All-OVC second team honors even after missing six OVC matches due to injury. In 12 matches and 42 sets in league play, she hit .292, sixth-highest in the OVC and averaged 1.95 kills per set from her middle hitter position. Overall, she led the team with a .256 hitting percentage and fourth on the team in blocks per set, averaging 0.43. Holthaus was also challenged over 400 time on serves and had team-high reception percentage of .974.
The second-seeded Racers will be looking to extend their 13-match winning streak as they begin the OVC Tournament, Thursday at 1:30 against #7 seed UT Martin. The entire tournament will be hosted by Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Courtesy of MSU Athletics