Blue Raiders fall to No. 3 Washington

Friday, September 18

San Antonio, Texas

5:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

Washington

Photo by: Bradley Lambert

9/18/2009 6:55:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: MT Athletic Communications

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Middle Tennessee fell to No. 3 Washington 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-7) to open play at the UT-San Antonio Classic on Friday. No Blue Raider posted double-digit kills in the match and the team only had two kills in the third set. Middle Tennessee (5-6) ended the match with 24 kills and a .082 hitting percentage. Junior Izabela Kozon led the team with eight kills while sophomore Stacy Oladinni and senior Ashley Mead each had seven. This is the sixth straight loss for the Blue Raiders and their second straight to a top-25 opponent. This is the longest losing streak since 2003 when Middle Tennessee lost seven straight from Sept. 20 to Oct. 8. Washington (10-0)notched 40 kills in the match with an attack percentage of .412. Becky Perry led the team with 13 kills while Jill Collymore had 10. Middle Tennessee battled in the first set but could not keep it close as the Huskies took a 10-point win. The Blue Raiders trailed 9-4 early in the set before closing the gap to one, 11-10. Oladinni and Mead each had three kills in the first set to guide the team. The Blue Raiders put up a fight in the second set and the Huskies could not make them go away. With Middle Tennessee within two it won the next point to close the gap to one but then Washington pulled it out, 25-22. Kozon led the team with eight kills while Oladinni had seven kills with a solo block and a block assist after two sets. As a team the Blue Raiders were hitting just .200 with 22 kills while Washington had posted a hitting percentage of .362 with five more kills. Middle Tennessee also had three total blocks which was just one less than the Huskies. Middle Tennessee kept it close for the first few points in the third set but then Washington took over. Middle Tennessee scored just two points after trailing 11-5 at the halfway mark. The Blue Raiders will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m. when it faces tournament host UTSA.