MTSU Crowned 2022 Blue Raider Invitational Champions

Saturday, September 10

Murfreesboro, TN

1:30 PM

Middle Tennessee

-82,00 CUSA

University of Tennessee at Martin

6-4,0-0OVC

UT Martin

Middle Tenn.

Photo by: Braydin Sik/ MT Athletic Communications

9/10/2022 5:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Henley, McCutchan, and Rhoda named as All-Tournament members

By: Braydin Sik, MT Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The Middle Tennessee volleyball team finished the weekend as the 2022 Blue Raider Invitational champions. The Blue Raiders went down in the first set, but quickly bounced back with three set wins to be crowned champions and finish the weekend undefeated.

The Blue Raiders (8-2, 0-0 C-USA) plucked the UT Martin Skyhawks (6-4, 0-0 OVC) Saturday evening, 3-1 (17-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-19). The win puts Middle Tennessee up to eight on the season, just one away from last season's total. As a team, the Blue Raiders hit .349, hitting as high as .536 in set three.

Three Blue Raiders were crowned as All-Tournament members this weekend. Senior Kayla Henley took home the MVP trophy and an All-Tournament honor. Henley filled the leadership role well this weekend, averaging a near double-double in kills (10.33) and digs (9.67). Henley also had a career-high in kills in yesterday's five-set match against Belmont with 21. The two freshmen outside hitters, Adri Rhoda and Trae McCutchan, also made it onto the all-tournament team. Rhoda had a career-high 17 kills on a .448 hitting percentage in today's win over UTM. McCutchan hit home career-high 15 kills on a .419 hitting percentage.

By the Numbers
4.33: 4.33 digs per set is the magic number senior Marley Banton needed in order to reach the 1,000 career digs milestone.
11.17: Junior setter Taylor Eisert continues to push her numbers up, averaging 11.17 assists on the weekend. Eisert was third on the team with 25 digs over the three matches also.
13: Graduate student Chen Abramovich had a much needed 13 digs to set her new career-high and help boost the Blue Raiders past the potent UT Martin attack.
25: Balanced is the best way to describe the Blue Raider attack this weekend. Five players hit home at least 25 kills on the weekend. McCutchan and Rhoda led the way with 35 kills each.

Blue Raider Notes

Banton reached the big 1,000 in career digs, just tying it in the final set with her 14^th in the match. She finished with two aces on the day, leaving her five shy of the 100-career service aces milestone.
The Blue Raiders are now 8-2 through ten matches, marking their best start through 10 matches since 2008 when the team went to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Up Next
The Blue Raiders are back tonight to close out the day against Belmont. The match is schedule to play at 6:30 p.m. and timing will depend on the match before it. Tonight's match will be streamed on ESPN+.

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