Blue Raiders to Take on Rival No. 20 Western Kentucky

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Blue Raiders are heading on the road this week to take on out-of-state rival Western Kentucky Friday, October 15 and Saturday, October 16.

Middle Tennessee (5-1, 7-5) vs. Western Kentucky University (4-0, 16-1)

Friday, October 15 at 6 p.m. CT – C-USA.TV
Saturday, October 16 at 12 p.m. CT – C-USA.TV
Hosted at Diddle Arena – Bowling Green, Kentucky
Western Kentucky leads the all-time series 50-15 and is currently on a 17-match winning streak against MT.

Blue Raider's Quick Hitters

The Blue Raiders are 5-1 to start conference play for the first time since 2011, and are 4-0 at home for the first time since 2009.
Redshirt freshman Taylor Eisert became the fastest Blue Raider to reach the 1,000-career assist milestone during the 25-point rally scoring era, doing so in her 27th match, which was a 3-1 win over FIU last weekend.
Kayla Henley is blazing hot on the attack currently, tying her previous career-high of 19 on Friday and then following it up with 20 the next match. Henley had a total of 39 kills last week on a .457 attack percentage.
Marley Banton continues her great defensive play averaging 4.40 digs per set, and is on pace to have the best dig-season in the modern scoring era for the Blue Raiders.

Tale of the Tape: WKU Hilltoppers

Western Kentucky is ranked 20th in the AVCA Coaches' poll and have an RPI ranking of 36th.
The Hilltoppers have swept nine opponents in-a-row and are 74-5 in the past three seasons.
WKU leads C-USA in five major statistic categories and are currently ranked second in the nation for team hitting percentage at .329.
Offensively, Lauren Matthews leads the Hilltopper attack with 231 kills and an astounding .470 attack percentage on the season. Setter Nadia Dieudonne leads the conference with a 11.17 assists/set average.
On the defensive side, Matthews leads the hilltoppers in blocks also with 1.22 blocks/set, which is good enough for fifth in the conference.

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Volleyball), Instagram (@mt_volleyball), and Facebook (Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Volleyball).

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Players Mentioned

Marley Banton

Taylor Eisert

Kayla Henley

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics