Oct. 27, 2008

By: Bryce Weymouth, Sports Information Assistant

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Redhawks volleyball team returns home Tuesday as they will host the Racers at 7:00 p.m. at Houck Stadium. The two teams will battle for sole possession of fourth-place in the OVC standings.

The match will be webcast free of charge on KFVS12.com free beginning at 7 p.m.

The Redhawks (9-11, 7-5 OVC) look to continue their excellent play and extend their current two-game winning streak. The Redhawks defeated OVC leader Morehead State on Friday night at Wetherby Gym 3-1 and then traveled to Richmond, Ky. on Saturday and defeated Eastern Kentucky in straight sets 3-0 to conclude their weekend road trip.

Junior libero, Molly Davis recorded her 1,492 career dig over the weekend, which moved her into second on the all-time career digs list at SEMO, just 29 behind Tuba Meto who ranks first all-time with 1,521 career digs.

The Redhawks, currently in fifth place in the OVC, are led offensively by Claire Keaton. Keaton ranks seventh in the OVC in kills and in points per game, with 3.29 and 3.68 respectively. Karleigh DeLong is second on the team with 2.75 kills per set and second with 3.32 points per game. Sarah Barth leads the team and ranks second in the OVC with 8.95 assists per game. Barth led the Redhawks with 78 assists over the weekend. Sophomore Kelly Benacka ranks sixth in the OVC in service aces. OVC Offensive Player of the Week Aubrey Dondlinger is second on the team in total kills with 136 and second with 2.53 digs per game.

The Redhawks defense ranks fifth in the OVC in blocks at 1.63 per game and are led up front by Emily Hughes. Hughes is fourth in the OVC in blocks at .077 per game.

 The Redhawks are fourth in the OVC with 17.12 digs per game and are led by Davis, who places seventh in the conference with 4.38 digs per game.

Scouting the Racers

The Racers (10-11, 7-4 OVC) are currently in fourth place in the OVC and are coming off a 3-0 win over UT Martin to extend their winning-streak to four games. The last match-up between the Redhawks and Racers was won by the Racers in straight-sets 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-14). Keaton led the team with nine kills. Dondlinger and Hughes added eight kills each. Hughes led the team with a .444 attack percentage and four blocks. Dondlinger finished with a team-high 12 digs. Barth recorded her second double-double of the season at the time with 27 assists and 11 digs.

Offensively the Racers are led by Logan Su. Su is averaging 2.46 kills per game. Jade Guo leads the Racers with 8.41 assists per game and places third in the OVC.

Allison Mugler and Kayleah Sauer lead the Racers defense and place ninth and tenth in the OVC with 3.80 and 3.75 digs per game respectively. As a team Murray State is allowing opponents to hit .206, which places them fifth in the OVC.

The Racers have won five-straight against the Redhawks dating back to 2006. The Redhawks continue to lead the all-time series against the Racers with a 43-16 edge.