The MTSU volleyball team took on the Jaguars of South Alabama Friday night. The Blue Raiders played at home for the first time in five matches.
Coming into the match, the squad had been on a tremendous run, winning its previous eight matches. During the stretch, the teams Middle Tennessee defeated included Western Kentucky, Denver, North Texas, Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State.
The streak dates back to Oct. 9, and the Blue Raiders look to continue similar great play.
In the match, the team had 31 kills with a .318 attack percentage. Meanwhile, the team held South Alabama to 22 kills with a measley .026 hitting percentage.
Junior Izabela Kozon was the lone Blue Raider with double-digit kills as she notched 15 for a .414 attack percentage.
On Oct. 26, Senior Leslie Clark was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week. She was the first setter this season to receive the weekly award. Friday night, Clark maintained her excellent run, leading the offense with 31 assists, five kills and four block assists.
Defensively, senior Janay Yancey had a team high five block assists and junior Alyssa Wistrick recorded three.
MT was dominant throughout, especially early in the match, holding the Jaguars to a -0.78 hitting percentage and 11 kills in the first two sets. The final tally was a straight set win 25-19, 25-15, 25-18.
On Saturday, the Blue Raiders took on rival the Troy Trojans, which would round off the weekend’s play.
Kozon again led MT with 11 kills and was the only Blue Raider with double-digit kills. She had a .345 hitting percentage and also posted four digs defensively.
As a team, MTSU had 35 kills for a .287 attack percentage.
Janay Yancey, Alyssa Wistrick, and sophomore Stacy Oladinni each recorded three block assists. Overall, the Blue Raiders had eight blocks on the night.
The contest proved to be closer in the second and third sets. However, MT wrapped it up in straight sets 25-11, 25-22, 25-21.
After starting the season fluctuating greatly with a 5-6 record, the Blue Raiders have since went 14-1, bringing their record to 19-7. The team is now an astounding 12-1 in the Sun Belt Conference.
MT is currently on a 10-game winning streak, with its last loss coming at Florida International on Oct. 4.
This pair of straight set wins also continued MT’s streak of five consecutive matches winning three sets to none. During this recent run, the Blue Raiders defeated UL-Lafayette, UL-Monroe and New Orleans as well.
The MT volleyball team will be back in action next week when it plays Florida Atlantic and Florida International at home in Alumni Memorial Gym. These matches will finish up the home matches for the season.
The Blue Raiders take on Florida Atlantic Friday night at 7 p.m. Senior night events will take place before the match. On Saturday, MT will take on FIU in a battle for the Sun Belt East Division title.
Volleyball victorious at home game
Published: Monday, November 2, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009
1 comments
Observant
First home game? Hasn't the season been going on for a while?
