Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Notebook: Football Prepares for a Fall Trip North
10/18/2021 5:00:00 PM | Football, General, Women's Soccer, Track & Field/Cross Country
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Head football coach Rick Stockstill is telling anyone who will listen in Murphy Center the same thing this week: do not underestimate the Connecticut Huskies.
It would be easy to write off 1-7 UConn, who had to hold on against FCS opponent Yale this past weekend to earn their first win of the season after not playing any games in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Former head coach Randy Edsall stepped aside from the role after the team's first two games of the season. But under interim coach Lou Spanos, the Huskies have shown improvement. And the tight scores of the past few weeks have Stockstill reminding his team they're still a threat.
"I think this is a perfect example of understanding the importance of taking care of yourself," Stockstill said of this week's game. "If you look at Connecticut, everybody is gonna say they have a bad record, they must be a bad team. They are not a bad team. They lost by two points to Wyoming, who's won five games this year. They lost to Vanderbilt by two points there at the buzzer. So this is a team where you can't look at their record and assume anything."
The better of the two main units for UConn has been the defense, which has only allowed 24.0 points per game across the Huskies' last three contests. A young defense featuring a plethora of freshmen in starting roles, quarterback Chase Cunningham was complementary to the unit's discipline.
"They are really good at what they do and will be a challenging defense to go against," Cunningham said.
The open week preceding Friday's night game has given the Blue Raiders extra time to prep for UConn's tempo offense, and also helped give the player's body a much needed rest at the halfway point in the season.
"It recovers pretty quick," safety Reed Blankenship said of his body recovering during the open date. "I kind of took it easy here and there on my body in practice. It doesn't take too long (to recover), but I'm glad my body is back to normal, and I'm ready to go."
Soccer Tops UTEP to secure top 4 in East Division
Middle Tennessee soccer continued their strong run in the C-USA on Friday night, where a 2-0 win against UTEP gave the Blue Raiders 12 points in the conference table, good enough to secure a Top 4 spot in the East Division in 2021, and, with it, a conference tournament berth.
Peyton DePriest continued her illustrious Blue Raider career with the opening goal in the 38th minute, taking a long through ball from Sam DeBein and perfectly placing the ball past the charging keeper from outside the box for her 10th goal of the season, and her 56th in the Blue and White.
Kristen Lykke continued her excellent freshman campaign just before the halftime whistle, battling with a Miner defender in the box and drawing a penalty kick, which she coolly converted to give the Blue Raiders the two goal advantage at the break.
The Miners struck back in the 48th minute with an attack that also resulted in a penalty kick being awarded. But keeper Hannah Suder was quick on her line, stuffing the shot in the lower left corner to preserve the Blue Raiders' lead.
The Blue Raiders have two conference games remaining this season, and will fight to avoid the play-in spot for the quarterfinals the rest of the way. MT currently sits just outside the play-in slot at third in the East, one point clear of fourth place FAU.
Cross Country posts strong times in final meet before conference championships
The Blue Raider Cross Country program posted two strong results in their final regular season meets of the fall at the Arturo Barrios Invitational in Bryan-College Station, Texas, as the men's team placed three runners in the top fifteen, while the women's team finished second overall in points.
The women have finished in the top 5 at every single meet this fall, and finished ahead of every single C-USA team in attendance this past weekend, including Rice, UTEP, UTSA and North Texas. Graduate student Eusila Chepkemei continued her strong fall with a fourth place finish, leading the Blue Raiders with a time of 20:41.6 in the 6k event.
On the men's side, the trio of Hillary Kimaiyo, Jacob Choge and Habtamu Geta each placed within the top fifteen, as MT finished sixth out of 32 teams in attendance.
"I really liked what I saw from the women, we ran well as a team," cross country coach Keith Vroman said after the meet. "I thought we looked good against the Conference USA teams and I'm excited to see them in Charlotte. For the men, the top half of our lineup performed well and it's about the rest of our lineup coming together as a whole. We performed well against C-USA, and it was good to see them against high-level competition."
C-USA Championships will be held in Charlotte, N.C. on October 30.
Tennis competes in Illini Invite
Men's Tennis competed against some of the top programs in the country this past weekend in Champaign, Ill., facing off with Arizona State, Illinois and Tennessee in a series of Hidden Team Duals, where no team scores were recorded.
Check out some highlights from men's tennis continuing to power through its fall schedule from the team's twitter feed below.
Basketball Season Tickets on Sale Now
Basketball season continues to grow closer and closer, and season tickets for the Blue Raiders and Lady Raiders are now on sale.
Men's season tickets are $170 per seat, and the women's season tickets are $120 per seat, or fans may purchase a combination of both men's and women's season tickets at a discounted rate of $220. MTSU staff and faculty also may purchase discounted season tickets by contacting the ticket office at 615-898-5261.
The Lady Raiders' home slate includes 15 games, including two exhibition contests. The first exhibition game is slated for Oct. 29. The Lady Raiders' home and season opener is Nov. 9 against East Carolina. The non-conference home slate also includes Vanderbilt, Mercer and Southern Illinois.
The Blue Raiders also have a healthy helping of home games for the fans with 15 games at Murphy Center in 2021-22, including three straight to tip off the campaign. In fact, five of the team's first eight games will be played at home.
Fans can purchase their season tickets online at GoBlueRaiders.com/Tickets, or by visiting the MTSU Ticket Office. For more information, call the MTSU Ticket Office at 615-898-5261.
It would be easy to write off 1-7 UConn, who had to hold on against FCS opponent Yale this past weekend to earn their first win of the season after not playing any games in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Former head coach Randy Edsall stepped aside from the role after the team's first two games of the season. But under interim coach Lou Spanos, the Huskies have shown improvement. And the tight scores of the past few weeks have Stockstill reminding his team they're still a threat.
"I think this is a perfect example of understanding the importance of taking care of yourself," Stockstill said of this week's game. "If you look at Connecticut, everybody is gonna say they have a bad record, they must be a bad team. They are not a bad team. They lost by two points to Wyoming, who's won five games this year. They lost to Vanderbilt by two points there at the buzzer. So this is a team where you can't look at their record and assume anything."
The better of the two main units for UConn has been the defense, which has only allowed 24.0 points per game across the Huskies' last three contests. A young defense featuring a plethora of freshmen in starting roles, quarterback Chase Cunningham was complementary to the unit's discipline.
"They are really good at what they do and will be a challenging defense to go against," Cunningham said.
The open week preceding Friday's night game has given the Blue Raiders extra time to prep for UConn's tempo offense, and also helped give the player's body a much needed rest at the halfway point in the season.
"It recovers pretty quick," safety Reed Blankenship said of his body recovering during the open date. "I kind of took it easy here and there on my body in practice. It doesn't take too long (to recover), but I'm glad my body is back to normal, and I'm ready to go."
Soccer Tops UTEP to secure top 4 in East Division
Middle Tennessee soccer continued their strong run in the C-USA on Friday night, where a 2-0 win against UTEP gave the Blue Raiders 12 points in the conference table, good enough to secure a Top 4 spot in the East Division in 2021, and, with it, a conference tournament berth.
With their win over the UTEP Miners, your Blue Raiders have CLINCHED their spot into the C-USA Tournament!#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/NgbzyrsM83
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) October 16, 2021
Peyton DePriest continued her illustrious Blue Raider career with the opening goal in the 38th minute, taking a long through ball from Sam DeBein and perfectly placing the ball past the charging keeper from outside the box for her 10th goal of the season, and her 56th in the Blue and White.
Write it down! Goal No. 10 on the season and career No. 56 for the one and only, @PeyDepriest! 😎 pic.twitter.com/OxpdJccZ9G
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) October 16, 2021
Kristen Lykke continued her excellent freshman campaign just before the halftime whistle, battling with a Miner defender in the box and drawing a penalty kick, which she coolly converted to give the Blue Raiders the two goal advantage at the break.
Kirstine Lykke scored her first career penalty kick to send us into halftime with a two-goal advantage!#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/WuSkKncsq7
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) October 16, 2021
The Miners struck back in the 48th minute with an attack that also resulted in a penalty kick being awarded. But keeper Hannah Suder was quick on her line, stuffing the shot in the lower left corner to preserve the Blue Raiders' lead.
SUDER DENIES! Suder saves the Miner penalty kick in the 47th minute to maintain the Blue Raiders two-goal advantage!#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/DR9mCFhMNF
— MT Soccer (@MT_Soccer) October 16, 2021
The Blue Raiders have two conference games remaining this season, and will fight to avoid the play-in spot for the quarterfinals the rest of the way. MT currently sits just outside the play-in slot at third in the East, one point clear of fourth place FAU.
Cross Country posts strong times in final meet before conference championships
The Blue Raider Cross Country program posted two strong results in their final regular season meets of the fall at the Arturo Barrios Invitational in Bryan-College Station, Texas, as the men's team placed three runners in the top fifteen, while the women's team finished second overall in points.
The women have finished in the top 5 at every single meet this fall, and finished ahead of every single C-USA team in attendance this past weekend, including Rice, UTEP, UTSA and North Texas. Graduate student Eusila Chepkemei continued her strong fall with a fourth place finish, leading the Blue Raiders with a time of 20:41.6 in the 6k event.
On the men's side, the trio of Hillary Kimaiyo, Jacob Choge and Habtamu Geta each placed within the top fifteen, as MT finished sixth out of 32 teams in attendance.
"I really liked what I saw from the women, we ran well as a team," cross country coach Keith Vroman said after the meet. "I thought we looked good against the Conference USA teams and I'm excited to see them in Charlotte. For the men, the top half of our lineup performed well and it's about the rest of our lineup coming together as a whole. We performed well against C-USA, and it was good to see them against high-level competition."
C-USA Championships will be held in Charlotte, N.C. on October 30.
Tennis competes in Illini Invite
Men's Tennis competed against some of the top programs in the country this past weekend in Champaign, Ill., facing off with Arizona State, Illinois and Tennessee in a series of Hidden Team Duals, where no team scores were recorded.
Check out some highlights from men's tennis continuing to power through its fall schedule from the team's twitter feed below.
Giddy up! #BlueRaiders | #MT ⚡️⚡️ pic.twitter.com/41pluYVaUv
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) October 15, 2021
1️⃣0️⃣ minutes 'til first serve! | #GSD pic.twitter.com/aa6vwZkjz4
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) October 16, 2021
3️⃣0️⃣ minutes…
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) October 17, 2021
Pitter patter let's get at 'er. | #GSD ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/yuvIZUclxd
We'll take THAT.
— MT Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) October 17, 2021
Edge and Motl cruise to victory, 6-1! #BlueRaiders | #GSD ⚡️⚡️ pic.twitter.com/uoEaZuWaHe
Basketball Season Tickets on Sale Now
Basketball season continues to grow closer and closer, and season tickets for the Blue Raiders and Lady Raiders are now on sale.
Men's season tickets are $170 per seat, and the women's season tickets are $120 per seat, or fans may purchase a combination of both men's and women's season tickets at a discounted rate of $220. MTSU staff and faculty also may purchase discounted season tickets by contacting the ticket office at 615-898-5261.
The Lady Raiders' home slate includes 15 games, including two exhibition contests. The first exhibition game is slated for Oct. 29. The Lady Raiders' home and season opener is Nov. 9 against East Carolina. The non-conference home slate also includes Vanderbilt, Mercer and Southern Illinois.
The Blue Raiders also have a healthy helping of home games for the fans with 15 games at Murphy Center in 2021-22, including three straight to tip off the campaign. In fact, five of the team's first eight games will be played at home.
Fans can purchase their season tickets online at GoBlueRaiders.com/Tickets, or by visiting the MTSU Ticket Office. For more information, call the MTSU Ticket Office at 615-898-5261.
Players Mentioned
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