Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Friday, September 2
Moraga, Calif.
5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee
1-3
0
vs
3
Nevada
2-2
1
2
3
F
Middle Tennessee
24
16
14
0
Nevada
26
25
25
3
Team Stats
MT
NEV
Kills
30
32
Errors
20
10
Attempts
82
64
Hitting %
.122
.344
Points
39.0
45.0
Assists
29
28
Aces
4
6
Blocks
5.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
Blue Raiders fall to Nevada in Saint Mary's Tournament
9/2/2016 7:40:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MT shifts focus to SMC, UC Riverside
MORAGA, Calif. – After a strong start in the first match of the Saint Mary's Tournament, the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (1-3) fell to Nevada (2-2) in three sets.
For the third match of the season, sophomore Bailey Mason paced the Blue Raider offense with nine kills. Sophomores Malika York and Vonnie Covington also tallied six kills each.
Junior Sloan Sullivan, who earned the start at libero, provided six digs and added an assist, while freshman Dora Peonia turned in a game-high four blocks.
"Nevada played really well. They are a growing team. That coaching staff has had that team together now for two or three years, and you can see they are getting better every year," Coach Dan Ahiers said. "They played better than us tonight. They serve-received very well and they were very aggressive."
Despite outhitting the Wolfpack at a .333 to .250 clip, the Blue Raiders dropped the first set 26-24. MT began the opening frame on a slow pace as Nevada took an early 5-0 lead, but the Raiders used a 8-4 run to trim the lead to 9-8. Both teams traded points for the remainder of the set before MT claimed a 24-22 lead behind two strong offensive points from Peonia. The Wolfpack answered, however, as a 4-0 Nevada run gave them a first-set win.
The Wolfpack carried that momentum into the second set as they jumped out to a 10-2 lead. The Blue Raiders attempted a comeback with an ace and kill from Aubrie Huddleston along with a pair of kills by Peonia, but the early lead was too much to overcome as Nevada took the second set 25-16.
MT struggled from the service line it tied a season-high 13 service errors and couldn't quite get Nevada's offense out of rhythm.
The Blue Raiders rallied to open the final frame. Both teams traded points until Nevada claimed a commanding 15-9 lead and surged to a 25-14 win in the third set.
"The worst part about tonight was how we didn't play collectively as a team," Ahiers said. "We were not organized enough to run our offense or our defense. That's on the head coach. I didn't have them ready to play tonight. I've got to make some adjustments on my end."
The Raiders return to the court Saturday for a twin bill against host Saint Mary's and UC Riverside. First serve against the Gaels is set for 2 p.m. CT, while the night cap against the Highlanders is slated for 8 p.m. CT.
Both matches will be streamed via the SMC Volleyball Central page at http://www.smcgaels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=21400&ATCLID=209610036 . The match against Saint Mary's will also be streamed on the West Coast Conference network, TheW.TV (http://www.wccsports.com/thew.tv), and on Campus Insiders (http://bit.ly/2bQLoPx).
For the third match of the season, sophomore Bailey Mason paced the Blue Raider offense with nine kills. Sophomores Malika York and Vonnie Covington also tallied six kills each.
Junior Sloan Sullivan, who earned the start at libero, provided six digs and added an assist, while freshman Dora Peonia turned in a game-high four blocks.
"Nevada played really well. They are a growing team. That coaching staff has had that team together now for two or three years, and you can see they are getting better every year," Coach Dan Ahiers said. "They played better than us tonight. They serve-received very well and they were very aggressive."
Despite outhitting the Wolfpack at a .333 to .250 clip, the Blue Raiders dropped the first set 26-24. MT began the opening frame on a slow pace as Nevada took an early 5-0 lead, but the Raiders used a 8-4 run to trim the lead to 9-8. Both teams traded points for the remainder of the set before MT claimed a 24-22 lead behind two strong offensive points from Peonia. The Wolfpack answered, however, as a 4-0 Nevada run gave them a first-set win.
The Wolfpack carried that momentum into the second set as they jumped out to a 10-2 lead. The Blue Raiders attempted a comeback with an ace and kill from Aubrie Huddleston along with a pair of kills by Peonia, but the early lead was too much to overcome as Nevada took the second set 25-16.
MT struggled from the service line it tied a season-high 13 service errors and couldn't quite get Nevada's offense out of rhythm.
The Blue Raiders rallied to open the final frame. Both teams traded points until Nevada claimed a commanding 15-9 lead and surged to a 25-14 win in the third set.
"The worst part about tonight was how we didn't play collectively as a team," Ahiers said. "We were not organized enough to run our offense or our defense. That's on the head coach. I didn't have them ready to play tonight. I've got to make some adjustments on my end."
The Raiders return to the court Saturday for a twin bill against host Saint Mary's and UC Riverside. First serve against the Gaels is set for 2 p.m. CT, while the night cap against the Highlanders is slated for 8 p.m. CT.
Both matches will be streamed via the SMC Volleyball Central page at http://www.smcgaels.com/
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