Blue Raiders Sweep Weekend Series With FIU

Saturday, October 9

Murfreesboro, TN

1:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

-75,51 CUSA

FIU

-310,04 CUSA

FIU

Middle Tenn.

Photo by: Kaitlyn Hungerford/MT Athletic Communications

10/9/2021 5:29:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Braydin Sik, MT Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee swept their weekend series with FIU, winning 3-1 and 3-2 respectively. Taylor Eisert and Kayla Henley shined both games, setting new career-highs.

As a team, the Blue Raiders are off to their best start under Coach Crawford with a 4-0 record at home and a 5-1 record against Conference USA foes. Middle Tennessee currently sits in second place in C-USA East behind ranked Western Kentucky (4-0).

After being handed her 1,000-career assists milestone ball, Eisert went on to have a career day with 60 assists. Eisert's weekend consisted of 109 assists, averaging 12.11 assists per set against FIU. After tying her career-high of 19 on Friday, Kayla Henley followed the stellar performance up with a new career-high 20 kills today. Henley led the Blue Raiders with a .457 attack percentage and 39 kills in two games. Melisa Nur Temiz's double-double included a new career-high 13 kills.

In a 3-1 win over FIU today, redshirt freshman @tayloreisert21 became the fastest Blue Raider to reach the 1,000-career assist milestone during the 25-point rally scoring era, doing so in 27 matches and 107 sets!🔥 Congrats Taylor!#BlueRaiders | #MT pic.twitter.com/rKnZPBC9HJ
— MT Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) October 8, 2021

Middle Tennessee vs. FIU Set-by-Set
Henley started set one off right where she left it the day before and quickly racked up six kills in set one. The Blue Raiders went off on an 11-0 run in the middle of the set that made it near impossible for the Panthers to bounce back. The Blue Raiders took set one 25-20.

The Panthers had a decisive 22 kills in set two, which they took 29-27. Henley struggled in set two, which saw the Blue Raiders offense sputter in the moment.

The Blue Raiders started set three off with eight errors that gave FIU a 15-4 lead early on. Quickly, Middle Tennessee capitalized on the Panther's mistakes generating a 17-3 run for themselves. Both teams found themselves with match-low attack percentages, but the Blue Raiders found a way to win the set 25-22 after being down by 11 early on.

Set four was full of runs that led to each team holding the lead for a few moments. Although the Blue Raiders had a good hitting percentage throughout the set, the Panthers was slightly better and saw them take the set 25-18.

With a .500 hitting percentage and a combined 9 kills on 16 total attempts between Henley and Lawson Body, the Blue Raiders pulled the final set off winning it 16-14.

Stat Leaders:
Aces: Banton and Turner (2)
Kills: Kayla Henley (20)
Assists: Taylor Eisert (60)
Digs: Marley Banton (23)
Blocks: Michaela Wright (6)

The Blue Raiders head on the road Monday for a matchup in Florence, Alabama against UNA at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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