Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
COLUMN: Another weekend as a Blue Raider
10/1/2023 6:25:00 PM | General, Women's Soccer
With the midweek schedule for football, opportunities are abound to support the rest of the Blue Raiders on the weekend
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — It's not often I'm at a loss for words, but Middle Tennessee Soccer left me that way on Friday night.
What was projected to be a rather ho-hum game on the 2023 schedule against Chicago State, only made slightly more interesting by the fact MTSU was playing a non-conference game in the middle of the CUSA schedule, started out that way on Friday, as two then-three-win teams battled early until Idun Kvaale broke the standstill with a strike first time on a cross from Cambell Kivisto.
Just 17 minutes later, Kvaale would get the assist to Elizabeth Slavinsky, and the rout was on. A goal from Manon Lebargy off a set piece in the 33rd minute. A goal from Faith Adje in the 35th. And after Lebargy and Adje got their second goals of the night within five minutes of game time, the mood at Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium was as cheerful as a non-conference match could be.
MTSU would go on to defeat the Cougars 8-0. Adje finished the night with a hat trick, while Lebargy settled for a brace and an assist for five of MTSU's 29 points on the evening's scoresheet. For a team that had been playing better but had not gotten the results to show for it, it was a confidence boost the team needed, as head coach Aston Rhoden pointed out post-game.
"The thing that stood out for me was that you had different people who scored goals, and they were well built-up goals from things that we've been working on," Rhoden said.
It was also a reminder of why I love what I do here at MTSU, and how midweek football opened up the door to those realizations.
---
I knew at the start of the season these October Sunday columns would have to be a bit different. No one wants to read a rehash of a game that's days old, particularly one that went as poorly for MTSU as Thursday night's 31-10 loss to Western Kentucky.
Pick a topic, any topic, and there's probably something the Blue Raiders need to improve upon this Wednesday night on ESPNU against the surging Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
There's Xs and Os that apply to both sides of the ball like third down offense and third down defense (both of which are predicated in no small part on succeeding on first and second down). Winning the turnover battle. Or Red Zone execution.
Then there's the topics that are more of an emphasis for one half of the Blue Raiders than the others. Winning in the trenches on offense. Winning battles in the secondary on defense. Though when you lose by three touchdowns, there's no shortage of areas you could grade out better.
And then there are the more metaphysical concerns that I'm sure the Blue Raiders are working through in their own heads as well. Figuring out the abstract ways that each individual can be a better teammate, a better leader, a better coach. "Culture," for what that term is worth, is easy to have when you're winning. Finding one's way back to a winning culture amidst a 1-4 start? That's significantly tougher.
I do know this though: Middle Tennessee football was back at work on Friday, grinding video, grinding in the training room, grinding through the optional workout on a day off. Working to get back on the right foot, with still plenty to play for in front of them, given the round-robin schedule in Conference USA this season.
So, if you came for my take on football, there's 300ish words on football. And if you missed it yesterday, I really enjoyed putting together this story on Johnathan Butler, who came back from injury this week in Bowling Green. He's had an incredible road during his time in Murfreesboro, and I hope you'll take the time to learn a little more about it if you haven't already.
For now, let's move on to Alumni Memorial Gymnasium.
---
Middle Tennessee volleyball has gotten its share of headlines already this season, after knocking off their first ranked opponent in over a decade when they defeated Auburn in four sets on September 7.
Heading into this weekend's critical Conference USA doubleheader with Liberty, who was picked third in the CUSA preseason poll after a 29-win season in the Atlantic Sun last year, the Blue Raiders were winners of eight of their last 10 matches, battling hard but falling short in both matches on the road at New Mexico State last weekend.
And after this weekend's pair of wins, it's safe to say MTSU Volleyball could not have opened Alumni Memorial Gymnasium better.
Dropping just a single set to the Flames all weekend, the Blue Raiders put together complete performances. MTSU hit over .320 in both matches, averaged nearly three blocks a set and continued the strong serving game that has served them well (pun very much intended) in the first half of their schedule, acing the Flames 11 times this weekend.
Like everyone at this time of year, there's a long road ahead of the Blue Raiders. But MTSU does get the two league favorites, WKU and UTEP, on their home court again this year. If the offense stays hot, and the blocks keep coming, it's shaping up to be a special year in Murfreesboro.
---
I'm not sure I would've had the bandwidth to follow volleyball's dominance this weekend without the midweek schedule for football this year. I know that if I wasn't on our statistics crew for soccer, I wouldn't have had the time on Friday to follow along so closely to the thrill of victory well earned by Rhoden's team.
I spend a lot of my column inches for GoBlueRaiders.com on football, men's basketball and women's basketball, and I'm proud to do so, to bring y'all stories from those student athletes that might not be covered otherwise. But from when I covered my first game for the Daily Tar Heel as a freshman staff writer on the sports desk, a blowout, 8-1 win for UNC's field hockey team over Longwood in 2015, I've long been convinced that college sports are so much more than just football and basketball.
With football playing in the middle of the week this month, I'll have more time on the weekends for a lot of things, but I'm most excited about how I'll get to follow soccer and volleyball's fall seasons even closer. How I'll be able to take in race results from Cross Country earlier than Monday morning, or see how Jimmy Borendame's new class of recruits is gelling at men's tennis or how I'll be able to check in on Softball's fall scrimmage schedule and see who's breaking out ahead of their CUSA title defense.
And if you, Blue Raider fan, don't have a program outside of football or basketball that you follow closely, I highly recommend you choose one, just one, to start things out. You'll have ample time to follow them closely this fall, and I think your love of the Blue Raiders will be even richer for it.
What was projected to be a rather ho-hum game on the 2023 schedule against Chicago State, only made slightly more interesting by the fact MTSU was playing a non-conference game in the middle of the CUSA schedule, started out that way on Friday, as two then-three-win teams battled early until Idun Kvaale broke the standstill with a strike first time on a cross from Cambell Kivisto.
Through the crowd and into the net! https://t.co/tajieEEjRK pic.twitter.com/kwIM6QRr89
— Middle Tennessee Soccer (@MT_Soccer) September 30, 2023
Just 17 minutes later, Kvaale would get the assist to Elizabeth Slavinsky, and the rout was on. A goal from Manon Lebargy off a set piece in the 33rd minute. A goal from Faith Adje in the 35th. And after Lebargy and Adje got their second goals of the night within five minutes of game time, the mood at Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium was as cheerful as a non-conference match could be.
Hang it in the Lourve!@lebargym did not miss on this header 🤯@NCAASoccer | #BLUEnited | #DripByDrip pic.twitter.com/RMmsTmdb2Y
— Middle Tennessee Soccer (@MT_Soccer) September 30, 2023
39' | We've ran out captions…
— Middle Tennessee Soccer (@MT_Soccer) September 30, 2023
Middle Tennessee 6, Chicago State 0#BLUEnited | #DripByDrip pic.twitter.com/BIRmSCWkrj
MTSU would go on to defeat the Cougars 8-0. Adje finished the night with a hat trick, while Lebargy settled for a brace and an assist for five of MTSU's 29 points on the evening's scoresheet. For a team that had been playing better but had not gotten the results to show for it, it was a confidence boost the team needed, as head coach Aston Rhoden pointed out post-game.
"The thing that stood out for me was that you had different people who scored goals, and they were well built-up goals from things that we've been working on," Rhoden said.
It was also a reminder of why I love what I do here at MTSU, and how midweek football opened up the door to those realizations.
---
I knew at the start of the season these October Sunday columns would have to be a bit different. No one wants to read a rehash of a game that's days old, particularly one that went as poorly for MTSU as Thursday night's 31-10 loss to Western Kentucky.
Pick a topic, any topic, and there's probably something the Blue Raiders need to improve upon this Wednesday night on ESPNU against the surging Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
There's Xs and Os that apply to both sides of the ball like third down offense and third down defense (both of which are predicated in no small part on succeeding on first and second down). Winning the turnover battle. Or Red Zone execution.
Then there's the topics that are more of an emphasis for one half of the Blue Raiders than the others. Winning in the trenches on offense. Winning battles in the secondary on defense. Though when you lose by three touchdowns, there's no shortage of areas you could grade out better.
And then there are the more metaphysical concerns that I'm sure the Blue Raiders are working through in their own heads as well. Figuring out the abstract ways that each individual can be a better teammate, a better leader, a better coach. "Culture," for what that term is worth, is easy to have when you're winning. Finding one's way back to a winning culture amidst a 1-4 start? That's significantly tougher.
I do know this though: Middle Tennessee football was back at work on Friday, grinding video, grinding in the training room, grinding through the optional workout on a day off. Working to get back on the right foot, with still plenty to play for in front of them, given the round-robin schedule in Conference USA this season.
So, if you came for my take on football, there's 300ish words on football. And if you missed it yesterday, I really enjoyed putting together this story on Johnathan Butler, who came back from injury this week in Bowling Green. He's had an incredible road during his time in Murfreesboro, and I hope you'll take the time to learn a little more about it if you haven't already.
For now, let's move on to Alumni Memorial Gymnasium.
---
Middle Tennessee volleyball has gotten its share of headlines already this season, after knocking off their first ranked opponent in over a decade when they defeated Auburn in four sets on September 7.
Heading into this weekend's critical Conference USA doubleheader with Liberty, who was picked third in the CUSA preseason poll after a 29-win season in the Atlantic Sun last year, the Blue Raiders were winners of eight of their last 10 matches, battling hard but falling short in both matches on the road at New Mexico State last weekend.
And after this weekend's pair of wins, it's safe to say MTSU Volleyball could not have opened Alumni Memorial Gymnasium better.
Dropping just a single set to the Flames all weekend, the Blue Raiders put together complete performances. MTSU hit over .320 in both matches, averaged nearly three blocks a set and continued the strong serving game that has served them well (pun very much intended) in the first half of their schedule, acing the Flames 11 times this weekend.
Like everyone at this time of year, there's a long road ahead of the Blue Raiders. But MTSU does get the two league favorites, WKU and UTEP, on their home court again this year. If the offense stays hot, and the blocks keep coming, it's shaping up to be a special year in Murfreesboro.
---
I'm not sure I would've had the bandwidth to follow volleyball's dominance this weekend without the midweek schedule for football this year. I know that if I wasn't on our statistics crew for soccer, I wouldn't have had the time on Friday to follow along so closely to the thrill of victory well earned by Rhoden's team.
I spend a lot of my column inches for GoBlueRaiders.com on football, men's basketball and women's basketball, and I'm proud to do so, to bring y'all stories from those student athletes that might not be covered otherwise. But from when I covered my first game for the Daily Tar Heel as a freshman staff writer on the sports desk, a blowout, 8-1 win for UNC's field hockey team over Longwood in 2015, I've long been convinced that college sports are so much more than just football and basketball.
With football playing in the middle of the week this month, I'll have more time on the weekends for a lot of things, but I'm most excited about how I'll get to follow soccer and volleyball's fall seasons even closer. How I'll be able to take in race results from Cross Country earlier than Monday morning, or see how Jimmy Borendame's new class of recruits is gelling at men's tennis or how I'll be able to check in on Softball's fall scrimmage schedule and see who's breaking out ahead of their CUSA title defense.
And if you, Blue Raider fan, don't have a program outside of football or basketball that you follow closely, I highly recommend you choose one, just one, to start things out. You'll have ample time to follow them closely this fall, and I think your love of the Blue Raiders will be even richer for it.
Players Mentioned
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