Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
-44,20 CUSA
Charlotte
-77,02 CUSA
Blue Raider Volleyball Sweeps Weekend Series with Charlotte
9/25/2021 11:06:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – For the first time since joining Conference USA, the Blue Raiders are starting off 2-0 after two huge wins at home against Charlotte Friday and Saturday night. Middle Tennessee found themselves down 1-2 through three sets Saturday night, but the girls came back firing and won the last two.
The Blue Raiders stuffed the stat sheet two nights in-a-row against Charlotte this weekend. 14 career-highs were set or tied against Charlotte in a weekend which the Blue Raiders found themselves with only nine players dressed. Marley Banton and Michaela Wright set new career-high marks on Friday and then quickly followed them up the next night with even better performances. Marley Banton's new career-high for digs is set at 30, and the graduate transfer Wright improved her kill-high to 13. The Blue Raiders played with an incredible amount of focus and heart, bouncing back after a tough loss against UT Martin earlier in the week.
Middle Tennessee vs. Charlotte Set-by-Set
The Blue Raiders started where they left of the night before, winning set one 26-24. The girls got off to a quick 8-2 start, but Charlotte was able to string a bunch of great plays together and tie things up at 11-11. Samira Lawson Body showed up right away with an efficient 6 kills on a .600 attack percentage in the set.
Set two saw the Blue Raiders and 49ers go back-and-forth till they reached 12-14 at the halfway point. The 49ers proceeded to go on a 12-5 run, which included an 8-1 run, the rest of the way. Although Middle Tennessee had a match .361 attack percentage in the set, the errors mounted up and the 49ers were able to cruise to the end of the set winning it 25-19. Kayla Henley was a silver lining of the set, with an efficient 5 kills on a .625 attack percentage.
The third set got off to a bad start quickly. Bad sets and errors came to bite the Blue Raiders in set three, as Charlotte had an 11-2 to lead early on. Middle Tennessee had a measly 24% sideout percentage, which is almost impossible for any team to win with. It was a rough set for the whole team, as the 49ers won this set 25-15 and seemed to have all the momentum in the world being up 2-1 in sets.
MT got off to a quick 3-0 start and saw the game grow closer due to errors. The ceiling beams seemed to come into play a lot tonight, and in this set, it felt like the beams had committed to playing for the 49ers. Dasia Smith was a huge spark for the Blue Raiders with 5 kills, and the whole team came together on defense racking up 20 digs in the set. The Blue Raiders took the set 25-21, but not after an early battle that saw 11 ties and 6 lead changes.
The fifth set was all in the Blue Raiders' favor, especially with the 6-0 run to start. Melisa Nur Temiz continued to dominate while serving, amounting two of her three aces to kick things off this set. Lawson Body and Wright had six combined kills, including Wright's match-winning kill that put the Blue Raiders on top 15-7.
Stat Leaders Saturday, September 25:
Aces: Melisa Nur Temiz (3)
Kills: Kayla Henley (16)
Assists: Taylor Eisert (56)
Digs: Marley Banton (30)
Blocks: Michaela Wright (4)
Stat Leaders – Charlotte Series (9/24-25):
Aces: Marley Banton (4)
Kills: Samira Lawson Body (31)
Assists: Taylor Eisert (106)
Digs: Marley Banton (57)
Blocks: Dasia Smith (6.0)
Middle Tennessee hits the road for a C-USA series with the 4-11 Marshall Thundering Herd on Friday, October 1 at 5 p.m. CT and Saturday, October 2 at 1 p.m. CT.
Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter (@MT_Volleyball), Instagram (@mt_volleyball), and Facebook (Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Volleyball).
