MTSU to host Rival WKU on Saturday for C-USA Opener

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee volleyball team is opening up Conference USA play on Saturday with a match against rival Western Kentucky. First serve is set for 2:00 p.m. and it will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (11-3, 0-0 C-USA) won their matchup with Alabama A&M on Wednesday in a sweep, holding A&M to 42 points through the three sets, 19 of which being Middle's errors.

Scouting the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers | Watch | Live Stats
The #24 WKU Hilltoppers (12-2, 0-0 C-USA) are off to another great start, with their lone losses coming against #3 Louisville and Texas A&M. The Hilltoppers own the longest conference-win streak in the nation a 44 wins in-a-row and will play UAB Friday night before heading back north to the 'Boro. Louisville (29), Dayton (29), and BYU (27) are the only other programs with at least a 20-match conference-win streak.

WKU has been predicted to win the conference title in the Conference USA Preseason Poll voted by the league's coaches. Paige Briggs, Katie Isenbarger, and Lauren Matthews were all selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Matthews was tabbed Preseason Player of the Year.

Paige Briggs leads the team in kills this season with 189 on a .331 clip, while Matthews had racked up 171 kills on a .380 clip. As a team, the Hilltoppers are eighth in the nation with a total attack percentage of 0.300, just .040 ahead of the Blue Raiders. Setter Callie Bauer has put the league on notice averaging 10.67 assists per set, good enough for 14^th in the nation.

Defensively, the track and field star Isenbarger is leading the Hilltoppers with a 1.23 blocks per set average which ranks 60^th in the nation. The WKU block 15^th in the nation in blocks per set (2.74) and 11^th for total blocks (131.5).

WKU leads the all-time series 52-16 and is currently on a 19-match win streak against the Blue Raiders

Quick Facts

The Blue Raiders earned their first Power-Five win since 2014 after plucking the Boston College Eagles in four sets at the Red Storm Invitational. Freshman Adri Rhoda led the way with a career-high 19 kills on a .378 attack percentage.
Freshman Rhoda was named Conference USA Freshman of the Week for the third consecutive week on Monday. Rhoda led all conference freshmen in attacking, serving, and scoring. She finished the tournament with 47 kills on a .356 hitting percentage to go along with 14 service aces on a 1.17 aces/s average.
Junior Taylor Eisert and Rhoda were tabbed All-Tournament for their performances in Queens, New York. This was both players' second All-Tournament nods of the season.
Senior Marley Banton is only two aces away from tying the 25-point era program record holder, Chelsea Ross, with 105 career service aces.
Rhoda has 38 service aces on the season already, giving her sole possession of second on the 25-point scoring era single-season list. She is six away from tying the current-record holder, Dora Peonia. She is second in the nation for total aces (38) and is fourth for aces per set (.79) as of September 21, 2022.
The 11 non-conference wins this season before heading into conference play is the second most in program history, only being topped by the 2007 team that racked up 13 wins.

Keep Up with the Blue Raider Volleyball Team
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

Taylor Eisert

Adriana Rhoda

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics