Middle Tennessee Starts NIVC Run Against Troy on Friday

MURFREESOBORO, Tenn. – The Blue Raiders are back for the first round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. Middle Tennessee will take on the Troy Trojans in their home arena at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, December 3.

After a historic regular season that saw the Blue Raiders make it to the semifinals for the first time since they were in the Sun Belt in 2011, the girls are back and ready to play the programs first NIVC postseason tournament.

Middle Tennessee (9-11, 6-6) at Troy (17-12, 9-7)

Friday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+
Hosted at Trojan Arena – Troy, AL
Middle leads the all-time series 16-5 and is 7-1 at Troy
The Trojans are on a one game win streak against Middle Tennessee (L, 1-3, 09/01/18)
Winner plays the victor of North Florida and UNC-Greensboro's match

Blue Raider Quick Hitters

The freshly named Libero of the Year and All-Conference USA Second Team member, Marley Banton, averaged 5.20 digs per set down the stretch during Conference USA play.
The two Istanbul, Turkey natives, Melisa Tore and Melisa Nur Temiz, have been torching teams with their serving abilities. Tore's .43 serving aces per set and Temiz's .35 aces/set are tied for second and fourth best respectively in the 25-point rally scoring era for the Blue Raiders.
Samira Lawson Body led the offense all season long for the Blue Raiders, averaging 3.61 kills per set in conference play, earning her All-Conference USA Second Team to go along with her C-USA All-Academic and CoSIDA All-District First Team honors.
The Blue Raiders made it to the semifinals in Conference USA for the first time ever and are heading to postseason play for the first time since 2011.

Tale of the Tape: Troy Trojans

The Trojans and Blue Raiders are both 1-0 against similar opponents this season.
Troy was swept by Texas State in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to end the regular season.
Offensively, middle hitter Julia Brooks is leading the attack for the Trojans with a .307 hitting percentage to go along with her 341 kills. Setter Amari Anderson leads the team with a .324 attack percentage and an impressive 10.37 assists per set.
Defensively, Julia Brooks is the team's top blocker with 100 blocks on a .93 blocks per set average. The libero Lacey Jeffcoat is the Trojan's top digger averaging 3.66 digs/set on the season.

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

Samira Lawson Body

Melisa Nur Temiz

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics