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UTM prepares for EKU & Morehead


The last time Murray and UTM met in volleyball action, the Skyhawks were virtually untested with a 3-1 victory over the Racers. The Skyhawks, now 16-5 overall and 11-1 in the OVC, were met with a different challenge of facing four dominating hitters in the Racer lineup instead of three.

The Skyhawks, currently number one in the OVC, started the first game with a 5-0 lead only to watch the Racers come back and tie the game at 15 all. Once the Skyhawks surged ahead 21-15, the first game was mostly decided, ending in a 30-24 UTM victory. Coming off a first game low, the Racers forged back to take a 19-13 second game lead and never looked back taking game two 22-30.

Fueled by a Klevan Ace and a big kill by Fitzwater, the Skyhawks rebounded to win game three 30-25, jumping out to a 19-15 lead. Klevan completed her 11th double-double of the season with 10 digs and 10 kills by the end of the third game.

Despite two aces by Ahlers and numerous kills by Klevan, the Skyhawks were outmatched in a lead-swapping game four losing 27-30. The fourth game loss sent both teams into a fifteen point game five.

The fifth game was close down to the wire with a 7-7 tie at mid-game. With the help of Jamie Fitzwater’s big kill and two serve points, Murray was forced to take a timeout trailing 10-8.

Murray then surged to take 11-11 and 12-12 ties but Stephanie Bauer’s big kill broke the Racers’ hearts and the Skyhawks cruised to a 15-13 win preserving their position on top of the OVC.

“Physically we are fine battling out with every single team in the OVC”, said UTM volleyball coach Chris Rushing, adding that “every team wants to knock us off.” Coach Rushing credited this win to the team’s attitude saying, “We played with our minds and hearts tonight, especially down the stretch in game five.”

The Skyhawks host Eastern Kentucky at 7 p.m., on Friday, in the Skyhawk Fieldhouse and continue action at Noon on Sat. with Morehead State.

Morehead is tied with the Skyhawks for first and its only OVC loss on the season was to UTM earlier this season.