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MURRAY, Ky. – Junior Ashley Ring tallied 16 kills to go along with a career-best 24 digs to lead the University of Evansville volleyball team to a 3-0 win at Murray State on Tuesday evening.
 
In an extremely competitive match throughout the night, two sets went to extra points while neither team let the other get too far ahead on the scoresheet.  Evansville's (3-4) success came with an efficient offensive attack that hit .272 for the night while holding Murray State (4-3) to .167.  Rachel TenHoor finished with 12 kills and Meaghan Holmes posted 10 kills.  The duo hit .385 and .391 for the match, respectively.
 
"Mental toughness – that is what our girls showed tonight," UE head coach Manolo Concepcion said.  "They stayed patient throughout long rallies against a solid defensive team.  There was offensive balance and we took care of the small things in pressure situations."
 
Game one was a back-and-forth thriller before one of the heroes of the season-opener made her presence known when it counted the most.  Murray State had the upper hand early on, jumping out to a 5-2 lead as Alyssa Lelm had a pair of kills.  Three points would be the largest lead either team would enjoy in the set as Evansville rallied to take a 15-12 lead. 
 
The Racers came back to knot the score at 15-15 and the squads managed to tie each point from there until 22-22 before a pair of MSU errors put UE on the cusp of a win.  Lelm struck again, though, as she helped the Racers post the next three points to go up 25-24.  Both teams continued to fight to a 26-26 score before Rachel TenHoor took over.  After scoring 13 kills in the opener, TenHoor posted five in the opening set.  None were more important than her last two as Jenn Murphy found her for back-to-back scores to give the Aces a 28-26 victory.
 
Another close one ensued in the next frame as the Racers once again came out hot, going up 7-3.  Emily Schmahl led the offense for MSU before Evansville made its run.  Down 14-10, UE scored five out of six points to tie it up at 15-15.  Ashley Ring had a pair of kills in the run as the Aces looked to take control.
 
Murray State had the answer once again, posting three in a row, but the Aces answered the call with three of their own, including a Ring service ace.  With the set tied up at 21-21, TenHoor converted for the point forcing MSU to take a time out.  That turned out to be one of the deciding points as the Aces took advantage of three Racer errors to cap off a 25-21 win.
 
With a pair of barnburners to begin the night, game three proved to be no different.  The Racers scooted out to a 2-0 lead, but with the score tied up at 4-4, the teams battled to tie each point up to 12-12.  At that point, Taylor Olden notched a pair of kills to lead MSU on a 4-0 stretch.  Their lead would grow to as many as five points at 19-14 before the Aces tallied three in a row as TenHoor took the helm of the offensive attack.
 
Evansville kept the heat on, eventually tying the set up at 23-23 on an MSU error.  The score would continue to be tied up to 26-26 before the Aces found their late-game magic once again, forcing a pair of Racer errors to seal the match with a 28-26 win. 
 
Fans will get their first look at the 2013 squad on Friday evening when UE plays host to SIU Edwardsville beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Carson Center.  Saturday will see the Aces square off against Memphis (12:30 p.m.) and Valparaiso (6 p.m.).
 
"We look forward to use this weekend as a continuation of our consistency in the things that we do right and improvement in other specific areas," Concepcion added.