Blue Raiders Set for Home Opener Against Southern Illinois

Tuesday, September 2

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

6:00 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

Southern Illinois

9/1/2014 9:05:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Game Notes
Live Stats

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee volleyball team will kickoff its home slate on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., when the Southern Illinois Salukis visit Alumni Memorial Gym. MT is currently 1-2 to start the year while SIU is 0-3.

The Blue Raiders are coming off a 1-2 weekend at the Hampton Inn Invitational while defeating host Bowling Green in an exciting five-set match for their first win of the season.

ABOUT THE BLUE RAIDERS

Home Opener
The Blue Raiders will open up their home slate on Tuesday when the Salukis of Southern Illinois visits Alumni Memorial Gym. MT is 115-38 at home under Peck and 8-2 in season
openers.

All-Tournament Team
For their solid performances over the weekend, junior Rachel Shaughnessy and Jacqueline Lux were named to the Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament Team. Lux averaged 4.27 digs per set to go along with a team-best 47 digs. Shaughnessy came on late in the past two contests while averaging seven blocks en route to tallying 16 blocks over the weekend.She played a pivotal role in the Blue Raiders' victory against Bowling Green with career-highs in kills (10), points (18) and digs (4).

Block Party
Three players compiled at least 10 blocks over the weekend as Shaughnessy (16), Jazmyne Johnson (14) and LaDaisha Gillard (10) combined for 44 of the team's 54 blocks. Shaughnessy tallied 10 blocks in the victory over Bowling Green, just one block shy of her career-high.

Fast Starts
A stat to look at will be how well the Blue Raiders play after the first set. Over the weekend, MT outscored its opponents by two points in the first frame while being outscored by a combined 25 points over the next four sets. The 69 points scored in the first set is 31% of the team's overall points.

True Freshmen
Freshmen Brianna Pannone and Lux performed well over the weekend for the Blue Raiders. Pannone led the team with 49 assists and 4.45 assists per set while Lux gave an exceptional performance at libero, pacing the Blue Raiders with 47 digs, including a game-high 25 digs against Bowling Green.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

Scouting Southern Illinois (0-3, 0-0 MVC)
The Salukis are coming off a winless weekend in the Illini Classic while dropping two of their their games to ranked opponents in No. 20 North Carolina and 11th-ranked Illinois. Taylor Pippen led the Salukis with 25 kills and six blocks while averaging 2.50 kills-per-set, and teammate Andrea Estrada is right behind with 24 kills. Hannah Kaminksy paced SIU this weekend with 53 assists in three contests while Alex Rivera and Andrea Estrada both led with 25 digs.

SERIES HISTORY

The Blue Raiders hold a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series against the Salukis. In their only matchup last season, MT edged SIU in five sets on SIU's home court.

NEXT UP: Kansas State Invitational

MT will head back on the road this weekend for another round-robin tournament at the Kansas State Invitational in Manhattan, Kan., where they will square off against host Kansas State, UCF and Arkansas