Slowing down Rachel Giustino has, more often than not, been the key to defeating the Murray State volleyball team this season.

The senior outside hitter came into the game against Eastern Friday night averaging 22.25 points per game.

The Racers were below .500 (3-4) when she finished below that number and above .500 (3-2) when she eclipsed it.

Despite holding Giustino to 15 points, tied for her second-fewest points in a match this season, Eastern fell to Murray State in straight sets in what was the conference opener for both teams.

The score was within five points for much of the match, except for the middle and end of the second set. Eastern led 8-7 in the set, but Murray State took control with an 8-0 run. Eastern would not get within six points for the rest of the set and trailed by as many as 12, losing the set 25-15.

Eastern head coach Julie Allen said that runs will often happen throughout a game, but the team needs to keep its confidence level high to keep the runs from growing out of control.

“We just have to keep believing in ourselves,” Allen said. “We just got in a rut. The confidence dipped a little bit. We have to remember that we’re doing the right things.”

One of those right things was defending Giustino, which Allen said the team focused on in practice. Eastern junior Laurel Bailey led the team with four total blocks and said getting in front of Giustino’s shots can make a big difference.

“She’s a powerhouse hitter,” Bailey said. “Just getting a solid, good touch is going to help out our back row.”

Eastern senior Katie Sommer said she thought the team did a good job controlling Giustino’s attacks, even ones that were not touched by blockers.

“Our biggest objective with Rachel today was to not necessarily to block her and shut her down, but funnel the ball to where we want,” Sommer said. “If the ball gets hit to the side of the court we want to go to, we see that as a win.”

The Eastern defense only allowed Giustino to record 13 kills in the three-set match for a 4.33 kills per set average, nearly one entire kill below her average from non-conference play.

But sophomore Emily Matson finished with a season-high 10 kills and freshman Alysha Smith, playing in just her second career match, finished with eight points and four blocks.

Murray State head coach David Schwepker said a few changes in the Racers’ lineup led to this more balanced attack.

“Some other (players) were out there, and I think they were able to get some things going and get some more kills in some different places than having to always rely on (Giustino),” he said.

“I think it was a little bit more of a spread-out effort,” Giustino said. “During the preseason, it was a little heavy on what I was doing. We’ve really been working on spreading out offense so we’re not as predictable.”

Eastern does not have much time before its next conference matches. They Panthers play host to Austin Peay Saturday at noon and then will travel to play Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Sommer said that she saw some positives against Murray State that the team can use going forward in OVC play.

“We learned a lot about ourselves. We’re really focusing on being aggressive in our hitting, so I think we did a really good job of that today,” she said. “Defensively, I think we’re doing a lot better with blocking and blocking touches, so it’s really exciting to see us do some really good things out there.”

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].