MTSU Heading to Red Storm Invitational in Queens, N.Y.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee volleyball team is on it's way to Queens, N.Y. for the Red Storm Invitational hosted by St. John's University. The Blue Raiders will face Boston College at 8:00 a.m. and Columbia at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, and then play the host, St. John's, at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The matchup with St. John's will be streamed on ESPN3.

Last week, the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (8-2, 0-0 C-USA) won all four of their matches, starting off with a midweek matchup at EKU and then closing the week out with three matches at the Blue Raider Invitational. MTSU kept the tournament title home and is now on a five-match win streak before heading to New York.

Scouting the Boston College Eagles | Live Stats
The Boston College Eagles (10-0, 0-0 ACC) are off to a fast start, winning all 10 of their matches to start the new year (best start in program history). Last year the Eagles went 9-0 to start, but quickly cooled off after entering conference play, ending the season 17-17.

Junior outside hitter Katrina Jensen had herself quite the week as she was named ACC Player of the Week and URI Invitational Tournament MVP this past weekend as well as she racked up 48 total kills, seven digs, and two blocks while playing in all 11 sets for the Eagles. Jensen leads the team in total kills on the season at 98. Her 30-kill performance against LIU ranks as the fifth best five set kill total in the country so far this season.

Junior libero Anna Murphy was named to the URI Invitational All-Tournament Team as she recorded 20 digs while not giving up a single receiving error, 6 total assists, and an ace while playing in all 11 sets in three matches. Murphy leads the team in total digs on the season with 107 and boasts an impressive .974 receiving percentage with only .12 receiving errors per set. Grad transfer middle blocker Kate Brennan has been a force in the middle on both offense and defense as leads BC in total blocks on the season with 41 and is fourth on the team in kills on the season with 62.

This will be the first time the two teams have met.

Scouting the Columbia Lions | Live Stats
The Columbia Lions (3-3, 0-0 IVY) are in the middle of the pack right now with a .500 record. Last season the Lions only won five of their 24 matches, going 2-12 in the Ivy League part of their schedule. Columbia has only had one tournament away from home so far this season going 0-1 in away matches and 1-1 in neutral-site matches.

The Lions got a 16-kill performance from junior Logan Harlock in the win over Manhattan and she added nine kills against St. Francis (BK) for 25 total kills last weekend. 35 assists from freshman Ruby van der Heide in the opening match against Manhattan set the Columbia offense that hit .302 and held Manhattan to .104 in a dominating performance.

This will be the first matchup between the two schools.

Scouting the St. John's Red Storm | Watch | Live Stats
The Red Storm (6-4, 0-0 BIG EAST) started the season with three wins and are on a three-win streak at home heading into the invitational. The Red Storm went 15-17 last season, losing 3-0 to one familiar face in Western Kentucky.

For the second time in three weeks, graduate student Rachele Rastelli was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. Rastelli tallied 56 kills and 70 points in a 3-1 week for the Red Storm. The graduate student's most notable performance came as she tallied 16 kills along with three aces and three blocks during a five-set thriller against Southeastern Louisiana on Friday morning.

Sophomore Wiktoria Kowalczyk, sophomore Giorgia Walther and Rastelli were named to the Jack Kaiser Classic All-Tournament team following impressive performances over the two-day slate. Kowalczyk, who tallied 60 kills and 11 blocks against Southeastern Louisiana on Friday morning, was named tournament MVP after registering 133 assists on the weekend and averaging 1.64 blocks per set over three contests.

This will be the first time the two schools have played each other.

Quick Facts

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.
Junior setter Taylor Eisert was named Conference USA Setter of the Week for the second week in-a-row and Tennessee Sports Writer's Assosciation Volleyball Player of the Week for her performance during the Blue Raider Invitational. The Louisville, Ky. native led the conference in assists per set average (10.75) this past week and also pushed the Blue Raiders to the second highest hitting percentage (.288) in conference, just .001 behind the first-ranked team.
Freshman Adri Rhoda was named C-USA Freshman of the Week for the second week in-a-row and was tabbed as All-Tournament for her performance during the Blue Raider Invitational. Rhoda led the Blue Raiders with 35 kills during last week's tournament. The Hutchinson, Minn. native had a career-high 17 kills on a .448 hitting percentage in a win over UT Martin on Saturday. The outside hitter led all starting C-USA freshman in kills per set, points per set, service aces per set, and blocks per set last week.
Senior libero Marley Banton reached the big 1,000 in career digs, just tying it in the final set with her 14th in the match versus UT Martin. She finished with two aces on the day, leaving her five shy of the 100-career service aces milestone.

Keep Up with the Blue Raider Volleyball Team
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Players Mentioned

Marley Banton

Taylor Eisert

Adriana Rhoda

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics