MT rallies from 2-0 deficit to defeat FIU, 3-2

Friday, October 17

Miami, Fla.

5:00 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

7-15, 3-5

FIU

6-14, 3-4

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Middle Tennessee St.	18	19	25	25	15	3
FIU	25	25	21	18	9	2

10/17/2014 8:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

MIAMI – The Middle Tennessee volleyball team (7-15, 3-5 C-USA) rallied from two sets down to defeat FIU (6-14, 3-4 C-USA) in a thrilling 3-2 victory Friday evening at FIU Arena.

Friday's victory marks the fifth time this season the Blue Raiders have won in five sets and is 5-3 in five-set contests.

Three different players amassed double-figure kills with junior Chelsea Ross tallying a game-high 28 kills to go along with 18 digs for her tenth double-double of the season. Senior Monét Marshall tallied 13 kills while sophomore Miri Shade finished the match with 10 kills to round out the leaders.

Freshman Haley Morton recorded her fourth double-double of the year with 24 assists and 11 digs and sophomore Bridget Keller stepped up with two big aces in the fifth set, while senior Ailime de Freitas also played well with a team-best 28 assists.

Down 9-6 in the fifth set, the Blue Raiders finished the match on a 9-0 run to pick up the 15-9 set five win.De Frietas found Ross for two kills while Keller came in off the bench with two aces, including the clincher to seal the victory.

"A week ago, we would have lost this match in three, but our team really matured today, even when we were down in the final set" said Head coach Matt Peck. " It was ironic that Bridget Keller came from FIU and stepped up with those two big aces."

FIU jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the first set while the Blue Raiders were able to cut the deficit to four, 13-9, thanks to two kills by Ross and an ace from Marshall that capped off a 3-1 spurt.

The Panthers would stay on top the rest of the way, keeping the Blue Raiders from getting any closer and winning the set 25-18.

Both teams started the second game going back and forth with 13 ties and four lead changes. However, the difference in the second stanza would be a 6-1 Panther run at the end of the frame that gave FIU a 25-19 win and a 2-0 lead going into the third set.

MT stormed out of the gate with an 11-3 lead in the third set after taking advantage of five FIU attack errors, two kills from Shade, a kill by freshman Maya Miller and two kills from Ross.

FIU rallied to tie the match, 19-19, but the Blue Raiders finished the game on a 6-2 run to win the third set, 25-21, and keep the match alive.

The Blue Raiders kept the ball rolling with a quick 6-1 lead and never looked back, eventually going up by as much as nine, 18-9, and forcing a deciding fifth set thanks to two kills by Marshall and a kill from Ross to tie the match 2-2.

MT will look to keep the momentum going on Sunday with an 11 a.m., match at Florida Atlantic.