Raiders to Host FAU Senior Night, FIU Saturday

Thursday, November 14

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

6:00 PM CT

Middle Tennessee

FAU

11/13/2019 12:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee volleyball team returns home this weekend for its last two matches before post season play. They face the FAU Owls Thursday evening, following senior festivities, and the FIU Panthers Saturday morning.

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019 – Middle Tennessee vs. FAU – 6 p.m. CT – Live Stats – Live Stream
Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019 – Middle Tennessee vs. FIU – 10 a.m. CT – Live Stats – Live Stream

The Blue Raiders head into the weekend 12-15 overall and 5-7 in the conference after dropping matches to UTEP and UTSA last weekend. The 12 wins is the most the program has had since 2013 when it had 17 wins.

Dora Peonia led the team in kills in both matches, tallying 25 kills between both matches. She also had 10 digs against UTEP to record her 13^th double-double on the season. Taylor Hammill finished with 58 assists over the weekend and Bri Tankesley totaled 21 digs. The Blue Raiders out blocked the Roadrunners Sunday afternoon 5.0-4.0.

Scouting the Opponent
FAU
Massiel Matos leads the team in kills with 233 on the year, and Sydney Nemtuda follows closely behind with 231 kills. Nemtuda is also ranked seventh in the conference for service aces per set (0.32) and she is second on the team in digs with 255. Senior Kori Varney has a team leading 267 digs on the year.

The Owls are currently 13-10 overall and 7-5 in the conference after dropping matches last weekend to No. 15 Rice and Marshall. The Blue Raiders lead the all-time series with the Owls 16-7.

FIU
Sidney Henderson has a team leading 254 kills on the season, and she is fourth on the team in digs with 136. Lina Bernier leads the team in digs with 496 on the year, ranking second in the conference in digs per set with an average 5.38. Abbie Hughes ranks third in the conference in assists per set (10.26) and has a team leading 954 total assists.

The Panthers head into the weekend 9-15 on the year and 2-10 in the league after falling to Marshall Friday evening in five sets. MT leads the all-time series with the Panthers 24-11.

Team Notes

Dora Peonia has led the team attacks on 13 occasions and has recorded 13 double-doubles on the season. She also recorded a career-high 23 kills against Marshall, and a career-high .636 hitting percentage against UT Martin.
Urte Neimantaite tallied a career-high 19 kills on two occasions, against Tennessee Tech and Marshall. She has one double-double on the season and has led the team attacks on nine occasions.
Neimantaite is ranked 10^th in the conference for her average 3.23 kills per set.
Taylor Hammill recorded her 2,000^th career-assist against Marshall on October 11. She has also recorded 12 double-doubles this season. Hammill is ranked third in the conference for her 10.08 assists per set.
Hammill recorded a season-high 52 assists on two occasions and a season-high 18 digs.
Bri Tankesley recorded her 1,000^th dig against UT Martin on October 22. She also recorded a career-high four aces against Alabama A&M and a season-high 26 digs against Marshall.
Tankesley is also ranked eighth in the conference for her average 3.72 digs per set, and is tied for second on the team in service aces with 21 total.
Amalie Jorgensen nearly doubled her career-high blocks against North Texas, finishing with 11 total on the match.
Kayla Henley has recorded four double-doubles on the season. She also tallied a career-high 19 digs against Western Illinois.
Marley Banton leads the team in service aces with 23 total on the year.
Mikaela Weidmann leads the team in blocks with 90.0 total, and is tied for second on the team in service aces with 21.

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