Oct. 3, 2003

Box Score Courtesy of Murray State Sports Information

MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women's volleyball team tied a school record with its ninth straight win and claimed its fifth straight shutout with a 3-0 blanking over visiting Ohio Valley Conference rival Samford, 30-20, 30-27, 30-17.

The Racers (9-4, 4-0 OVC) have had five straight OVC regular-season shutouts, dating to the last regular-season match of last year. MSU has won 23 of its last 24 games.

In Game 1, Samford (6-9, 1-2 OVC) used effective serving to leap out to a 9-0 lead, but Murray State came back, going on a 13-2 run to take the lead and using that momentum to win Game 1 30-20. In Game 2, the Bulldogs nipped at the Racers' heels throughout the game, but MSU was able to close out the game 30-27.

In Game 3, Murray State led 14-12 before scoring 16 of the last 21 points for the 30-17 win, clinching the match.

Murray State was led by sophomore outside hitter Paige Sun, who notched her 11th double-double in 13 matches with a match-high 17 kills and co-match-high 12 digs. Junior outside hitter Kimberly Bunnage added 15 kills, while sophomore middle blocker had 13 kills. Gui made no errors in 18 attacks for an attack percentage of .722.

Sophomore setter Nikki Wong handed out a match-high 48 assists and had a co-match-high four blocks, while junior defensive specialist Casandra Ersel had a co-match-high 12 digs.

Murray State hit .400 as a team to Samford's .083, making only 13 errors in 115 attacks. Bunnage hit for a .542 percentage, while Sun hit .455 and freshman outside hitter Lilli Zhan hit .308.

Samford was paced by 10 kills from Hilary Gary. Krista Kettering had 26 assists and a match-high four aces, while Alyssa Whitehead had 11 digs. Gary also had a co-match-high four blocks for the Bulldogs.

"Samford came out and served really tough," MSU head coach David Schwepker said, "and we weren't passing very well, either. Once we got past that first server, though, everybody got their act together and built a rhythm, and that's what good passing is all about, getting a good rhythm. Once our passing was better, everything was OK. We started running our offense and took care of the ball on our side of the court, and everything fell into place."

The Bulldogs will return to action on Saturday at Noon as it faces Tennessee-Martin.