Red Hawks utilise home advantage to beat Murray State Racers by 3-2: Volleyball
An exciting volleyball scrimmage took place between Southeast Missouri Red Hawks and Murray State Racers on Tuesday, September 20. The Houck Fieldhouse arena in city of Cape Girardeau, Missouri was the back drop for the 3-2 win for the blackhawks.
Overcoming an early deficit of 22-25 in the first set, the Red Hawks of Southeast Missouri retaliated with 25-15 and 29-27 in the following two sets. However, the Racers hit the equaliser with 25-15 in the fourth set and created an interesting twist in the game. It was not an easy task but Southeast team proved it endeavours in the final set and emerged as winner of the five-set thriller
Set 1
The home team hit a blistering .237 in the first set and recorded 14 kills. Brittney Kalinoski and Emily Coon came up with great offense and scored solid points. Nevertheless, the Red Hawks failed to keep up with the Racers as they made up the difference through a hitting percentage of .250 and secured opening set with 3-point margin. Cassy Woolverton of Murray State played an instrumental role in winning the first set for her team.
Set 2
The Southeast squad led just about the entire second set. They picked up an early lead of 6-2 and never looked back. A total of 13 kills and hitting percentage of .345 enabled the Red Hawks to launch authority over Racers. It was also the season high hitting percentage for Southeast. Racers could not manage to deal with opponent’s outstanding strike and gave up. The Red Hawks claimed second set at 25-15 and tied the game score.
Set 3
The hosts continued with the same attack and defence tactics in the third set. In response, the Murray State team also displayed an impressive game plan. Senior Teresa Krog performed well and kept the Racers level with Hawks. The Racers put up a valiant effort but still dropped the set with a narrow gap of two points at 27-29.
Set 4
Following a 2-1 lead, the Hawks started off well in the fourth set. They led the scores until the Racers regrouped their team-line and hit back strongly. The visitors recorded 20 kills in the fourth set, whereas Hawks could only notch 12. As a result, Racers were able to create the deadlock of 2-2 by winning the crucial fourth set.
Set 5
Both teams tried to take lead in the final set and also saw a tie of scores at 10-all. In the end, it was Hawks who proved to be better and captured the set, 15-11.
The head coach of Hawks, Julie Folliard, was satisfied with her team’s performance. She disclosed her thoughts after the match and stated: “We just kept battling the whole night and played like each point was match point; we played hard and aggressive all night.” Moreover, she complimented Holly Reynolds and Julie Shives for their great effort in the match. The coach said that Holly stepped it up for the Hawks and her tactful play in the end led them to a win over the Racers.
“Julie played very well tonight, she set the tempo for us offensively, and really was all over the court, she made a lot of things happen,” said Folliard.
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