Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
NOTEBOOK: Football looks to continue winning ways in Ruston
10/31/2022 5:05:00 PM | Football, General, Men's Tennis, Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Tennis, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Volleyball, BRAA, Track & Field/Cross Country
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee football got back in the win column on Saturday, and got back to Murfreesboro from El Paso just before sunrise Sunday morning after knocking off UTEP on their homecoming.
But by the time the team got back to the Murphy Center later that day, it was all business for the Blue Raiders (4-4, 1-3 C-USA) as they prepared for a game at Louisiana Tech (2-6, 1-3 C-USA) on Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
"They're 2-6, but it's a very deceiving record," head coach Rick Stockstill said. "They've played a really, really tough schedule, especially their out of conference schedule with Missouri and Clemson on there, and South Alabama, who's really having a good year in the Sun Belt."
Stockstill backed up his claims by pointing to the Bulldogs' passing attack, an air raid scheme taught by former Texas Tech quarterback and first-year head coach Sonny Cumbie, which has helped LA Tech average over 30 points a game through the first two-thirds of the season.
Defensively, things have been less successful for the Bulldogs, who are saved from being the worst rushing defense in the conference only by an especially porous Charlotte defense, leading to the scoring defense also ranking next-to-last, just ahead of the 49ers at 39.63 points per game. They've especially had trouble in the trenches, ranking dead last in C-USA in both sacks and TFLs.
The tough nonconference slate did LA Tech no favors on defense, Stockstill notes.
"I think part of it is the teams that they've played, what those teams do," Stockstill said of the rushing defense woes. "I think it's probably more of a complement to those teams I've mentioned as opposed to what they're doing. They didn't give up a whole bunch of yards rushing to FIU last week. FIU was held under 100 yards rushing."
The Bulldogs are the hard luck losers of back-to-back overtime games heading into Saturday, losing at home to Rice and on the road to FIU and will need to win out to make a bowl in Cumbie's first year.
Fun fact of the day from me: Cumbie was the quarterback of the Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers in their mid-2000s heyday, at one point throwing for 83 touchdowns in a season in 2006.
Happy Halloween from Blue Raider Athletics!
Happy Halloween from everyone at MTSU Athletics! We had a little bit of fun today on the football press conference, thanks to Rick Stockstill sharing he'd like a Snickers bar or Reese's Cup this Halloween.
Defensive end Jordan Ferguson prefers Snickers like his head coach, as well as Lifesavers, but would really NOT appreciate Candy Corn. True to his personality, his ideal Halloween costume would be either Madea or Mr. Brown from the Tyler Perry-verse, helping make people laugh.
Quarterback Chase Cunningham, a fan of Reese's like his coach along with Sour Patch Kids, meanwhile, was fond of his Joker costume this year.
"We'll see if I have anything clever in the future, but that's my best so far," Cunningham said.
Cross Country places eight on All-Conference USA teams at C-USA Championships
While falling just short of defending their conference championship sweep from a season ago, MTSU Cross Country placed eight of their athletes on All-Conference teams at last weekend's C-USA Championships, as the women's team finished second and men third in Denton, Texas.
For the women, Joice Jebor finished in fourth for MTSU, her fifth time earning First Team All-Conference USA in cross country (it was also the ninth All-Conference USA honor of her career). She also earned Outstanding Senior of the Meet honors. The future is bright for the women's program thanks to outstanding performances from a plethora of freshmen, none bigger than that of Agnes Chepkurui, who finished ninth in her first collegiate championship meet, taking home Freshman of the Meet honors in the process.
Hillary Kimaiyo continued his excellent Blue Raider career for the men, earning First Team honors with a sixth-place finish.
Rhoda, Banton reach milestones for MTSU Volleyball
Over in the AMG this weekend, Adri Rhoda picked up her fifth Conference USA Freshman of the Week award this season, behind the strength of 26 kills across the Blue Raiders two wins this weekend over LA Tech and FAU. Her 57 service aces this season are tied for second in the nation this season, while already third on the all-time C-USA single season list during the 25-point rally scoring era. With one more ace, Rhoda would move up to the top 10 all-time list in MTSU history for service aces during the 25-point rally scoring era.
Her teammate, libero Marley Banton, also reached a major milestone this weekend, taking over the program lead for digs in the 25-point era with a nine dig first set on Sunday against the Owls. Banton passed Chelsea Ross, who has held the record (1,193 digs) since 2015. Banton's new mark is 1,216 digs, and counting.
Women's Basketball back at the Glass House TOMORROW!
Lady Raider Basketball continues their exhibitions at home this week with a Tuesday night tipoff against NAIA UT Southern scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Glass House.
It's the only chance you have to see MTSU at home this week, so come on out! It's Two Dollar Tuesday, which means two-dollar hot dogs, popcorn and soft drinks at the concessions stand!
Relive the fun of last Friday's win over Christian Brothers below!
Softball readies for 2023 with annual media day
Spring will be here before y'all know it, and MTSU Athletics is already getting prepped for Blue Raider softball. Check out the fun from the team's annual media day in the batting cages last week!
Softball also got into the Halloween spirit today at practice, with their annual costume game.
Men's Golf puts two in Top 10 ahead of final round on Daniel Island
ICYMI: Tennis Facility is moving dirt...well, moving concrete!
My path into the Murphy Center is still open for now, but that may soon change now that the new tennis center construction is fully underway! Crews have been busy tearing down fencing and scraping up the courts since the middle of last week, and our men's tennis coach, Jimmy Borendame, even got in on the demolition fun!
But by the time the team got back to the Murphy Center later that day, it was all business for the Blue Raiders (4-4, 1-3 C-USA) as they prepared for a game at Louisiana Tech (2-6, 1-3 C-USA) on Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
"They're 2-6, but it's a very deceiving record," head coach Rick Stockstill said. "They've played a really, really tough schedule, especially their out of conference schedule with Missouri and Clemson on there, and South Alabama, who's really having a good year in the Sun Belt."
Stockstill backed up his claims by pointing to the Bulldogs' passing attack, an air raid scheme taught by former Texas Tech quarterback and first-year head coach Sonny Cumbie, which has helped LA Tech average over 30 points a game through the first two-thirds of the season.
Defensively, things have been less successful for the Bulldogs, who are saved from being the worst rushing defense in the conference only by an especially porous Charlotte defense, leading to the scoring defense also ranking next-to-last, just ahead of the 49ers at 39.63 points per game. They've especially had trouble in the trenches, ranking dead last in C-USA in both sacks and TFLs.
The tough nonconference slate did LA Tech no favors on defense, Stockstill notes.
"I think part of it is the teams that they've played, what those teams do," Stockstill said of the rushing defense woes. "I think it's probably more of a complement to those teams I've mentioned as opposed to what they're doing. They didn't give up a whole bunch of yards rushing to FIU last week. FIU was held under 100 yards rushing."
The Bulldogs are the hard luck losers of back-to-back overtime games heading into Saturday, losing at home to Rice and on the road to FIU and will need to win out to make a bowl in Cumbie's first year.
Fun fact of the day from me: Cumbie was the quarterback of the Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers in their mid-2000s heyday, at one point throwing for 83 touchdowns in a season in 2006.
Happy Halloween from Blue Raider Athletics!
Happy Halloween from the #BlueRaiders! 🎃👻🍬 pic.twitter.com/JBNXMmxSxA
— MT Athletics (@MTAthletics) October 31, 2022
Happy Halloween from everyone at MTSU Athletics! We had a little bit of fun today on the football press conference, thanks to Rick Stockstill sharing he'd like a Snickers bar or Reese's Cup this Halloween.
Defensive end Jordan Ferguson prefers Snickers like his head coach, as well as Lifesavers, but would really NOT appreciate Candy Corn. True to his personality, his ideal Halloween costume would be either Madea or Mr. Brown from the Tyler Perry-verse, helping make people laugh.
Quarterback Chase Cunningham, a fan of Reese's like his coach along with Sour Patch Kids, meanwhile, was fond of his Joker costume this year.
"We'll see if I have anything clever in the future, but that's my best so far," Cunningham said.
Cross Country places eight on All-Conference USA teams at C-USA Championships
While falling just short of defending their conference championship sweep from a season ago, MTSU Cross Country placed eight of their athletes on All-Conference teams at last weekend's C-USA Championships, as the women's team finished second and men third in Denton, Texas.
For the women, Joice Jebor finished in fourth for MTSU, her fifth time earning First Team All-Conference USA in cross country (it was also the ninth All-Conference USA honor of her career). She also earned Outstanding Senior of the Meet honors. The future is bright for the women's program thanks to outstanding performances from a plethora of freshmen, none bigger than that of Agnes Chepkurui, who finished ninth in her first collegiate championship meet, taking home Freshman of the Meet honors in the process.
Hillary Kimaiyo continued his excellent Blue Raider career for the men, earning First Team honors with a sixth-place finish.
The women finished runners-up this morning at the @ConferenceUSA Championships. Six runners finished in the top-25 of a 78-person field.
— MT XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) October 29, 2022
📊: https://t.co/M6PrC3xj6F#BLUEnited | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/gf1QZ5y1Gi
The men finished in third this morning at the @ConferenceUSA Championships, just seven points behind second.
— MT XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) October 29, 2022
📊: https://t.co/M6PrC3xj6F#BLUEnited | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/RqNBCbd0SS
Rhoda, Banton reach milestones for MTSU Volleyball
Over in the AMG this weekend, Adri Rhoda picked up her fifth Conference USA Freshman of the Week award this season, behind the strength of 26 kills across the Blue Raiders two wins this weekend over LA Tech and FAU. Her 57 service aces this season are tied for second in the nation this season, while already third on the all-time C-USA single season list during the 25-point rally scoring era. With one more ace, Rhoda would move up to the top 10 all-time list in MTSU history for service aces during the 25-point rally scoring era.
Here's a few Rhoda 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 to kick your week off with... ⤵️#BLUEnited | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/H1Q6KIkDbo
— MT Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) October 31, 2022
Her teammate, libero Marley Banton, also reached a major milestone this weekend, taking over the program lead for digs in the 25-point era with a nine dig first set on Sunday against the Owls. Banton passed Chelsea Ross, who has held the record (1,193 digs) since 2015. Banton's new mark is 1,216 digs, and counting.
𝟭,𝟮𝟭𝟲 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨... 👑
— MT Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) October 31, 2022
Congrats to @marleybanton1 on setting the program's 25-pt era career digs record against FAU on Sunday! She now holds the program's career records for digs and service aces in the current scoring era. #BLUEnited | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/Cl7wGbgqtf
Women's Basketball back at the Glass House TOMORROW!
Lady Raider Basketball continues their exhibitions at home this week with a Tuesday night tipoff against NAIA UT Southern scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Glass House.
It's the only chance you have to see MTSU at home this week, so come on out! It's Two Dollar Tuesday, which means two-dollar hot dogs, popcorn and soft drinks at the concessions stand!
Relive the fun of last Friday's win over Christian Brothers below!
Good to be back.#BLUEnited | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/pfnglxHasY
— MT Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) October 29, 2022
Softball readies for 2023 with annual media day
Spring will be here before y'all know it, and MTSU Athletics is already getting prepped for Blue Raider softball. Check out the fun from the team's annual media day in the batting cages last week!
Softball also got into the Halloween spirit today at practice, with their annual costume game.
Men's Golf puts two in Top 10 ahead of final round on Daniel Island
Daniel Island Intercollegiate Round ✌️#BlueRaiders pic.twitter.com/Kx5fKtRP7w
— MT Men's Golf (@MT_MGolf) October 31, 2022
ICYMI: Tennis Facility is moving dirt...well, moving concrete!
My path into the Murphy Center is still open for now, but that may soon change now that the new tennis center construction is fully underway! Crews have been busy tearing down fencing and scraping up the courts since the middle of last week, and our men's tennis coach, Jimmy Borendame, even got in on the demolition fun!
I have walked many times from the courts into the Murphy center thinking 🤔 one day, we will build new 🎾 courts and how would I feel when we did. Well, here we are, I'm grateful and ecstatic 🤩 about the days ahead for Blue Raider Tennis #wegritt #culturestrong #grateful pic.twitter.com/broEIa117A
— Jimmy Borendame (@CoachJimmyB) October 28, 2022
🚧 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙕𝙤𝙣𝙚 🚧
— MT Athletics (@MTAthletics) October 29, 2022
The heavy machinery has made its way on campus, and demolition on the current @MT_WomensTennis & @MT_MensTennis courts is underway!#BuildBlue pic.twitter.com/VcVxTD3RPe
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Thursday, December 18
MTSU Women's Basketball vs. Auburn Postgame Press Conference on 12/16/25
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Tuesday, December 16
