Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
NOTEBOOK: CUSA Tips off the 2023 Season at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center
10/16/2023 4:19:00 PM | General, Men's Basketball, Men's Tennis, Women's Basketball, Women's Volleyball
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — It was a breezy, but out of this world day at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, where the first in-person CUSA Tipoff since before the COVID-19 pandemic was held ahead of the start of the college basketball season in just a few weeks times. And both the Middle Tennessee men's and women's basketball programs were well represented just two hours from the Murphy Center.
And with both teams welcoming a host of newcomers to their ranks this year, much of the media availability's focus for each program was on how each team brought their new recruits in to their culture. As Justin Bufford noted, he was once in those new players' shoes after coming in from Shelton State in 2021.
"Going to the veteran players and being like, 'Don't leave those guys out to dry, bring them in. Because the quicker that we can bring them in together, the better our team will be," Bufford said was the key. "Coach McDevitt, he's going to do his job and coach them. But if we can coach them in a player's point-of-view, it makes his job easier and makes winning easier."
For the Lady Raiders, the international flair of the MTSU roster presents its own challenges, but also its own opportunities, as Courtney Whitson pointed out.
"It's really grown me as a leader," Whitson said. "You take 15 girls with completely different backgrounds, personalities and you put them in a locker room and say, 'Get along, let's win a championship.'"
The acclimation process for both teams will be key in a reloaded Conference USA, which will again be a tough league night-in and night-out, particularly on the men's side. Nick McDevitt made sure to load up his non-conference schedule with a plethora of teams expected to finish highly in their leagues to prep for the in-conference play grind.
"I've told our team many times that average nights, average performances will get you beat," McDevitt said. "There's not games where you can play ok and still win. That'll be league play. You can't go to Liberty and play ok and win. You can't go to Western Kentucky and play ok and win. You've got to play well every night."
The Lady Raiders, meanwhile, know the expectations remain high as they attempt to repeat as CUSA Champions, with Rick Insell saying "not everyone is suited" to play for Middle Tennessee.
"We coach them hard; we dream big dreams and make those dreams come true," Insell said. "If you want to play professionally, then we can do that. If you want to get a degree or work on your master's degree, we can do that. We're kind of proud of what we've got at Middle Tennessee State University, and we've got that because of great leadership."
Preseason Polls put both Lady Raiders and Blue Raiders atop Conference USA
Both the Blue Raiders and Lady Raiders received high expectations ahead of CUSA Tipoff last week, when the Conference USA office revealed the results of the preseason coaches' poll for both men's and women's basketball. The Lady Raiders were a unanimous favorite to repeat as CUSA Champions, while the Blue Raiders tied for first place with Liberty on total points, while receiving one first place vote to the Flames' five.
"I've got to be real careful, I don't want to sound like I'm arrogant or cocky, but we expect to be ranked in the top one or two every year," Insell said. "We're not going in for second place, we're going in to win the conference season and then come into Huntsville with a chance to win the conference championship here. It's kind of what we look forward to every year."
The Lady Raiders had three players — Courtney Whitson, Jalynn Gregory and Savannah Wheeler — named to the preseason All-CUSA team. Wheeler was named Preseason Conference USA Player of the Year.
"It's flattering that your colleagues think enough of your team that you're going to be one of the better teams in your league," McDevitt said. "Obviously, there's a lot of ball in front of us, but having lost what we lost off of last year's team, either to transfer or graduation, and have this many new guys and several of the returning players going to be in drastically different roles, to still be picked as one of the best teams in the league speaks to our coaches and our veteran players, and really the foundation and the culture in the program."
Camryn Weston and Elias King were both selected to the preseason All-CUSA Team.
Leo Raquin's win highlights scalding hot week for Men's Tennis at ITA Regionals
Senior Leo Raquin capped off an amazing week for Middle Tennessee Men's Tennis on Monday, winning in three sets over Pau Fanlo of Memphis to claim the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship.
Raquin was one of two Blue Raiders (Marcel Kamrowski) to make the semifinals of the singles draw and one of three (Ondrej Horak) to make the quarterfinals. Five Blue Raiders (Karim Al-Amin and Demis Taramonlis) made the Round of 16 in Chattanooga this weekend.
"What a crazy match day!" associate head coach Andrea Caligiana said. "Leo was up 3-0 and 40-15 in the first set and then down 4-6, 0-3 to fight back and win 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. He had a lot of mental toughness but most importantly his fitness level is what made the difference. He could have played three more hours if he needed to. Coach Jimmy and I asked Leo to make some adjustments to his routines and habits when he first arrived. We are proud of him listening and doing some things more professionally. I believe these things are helping him to play much better.
"Lastly, as I said yesterday, it was a great team tournament and I feel like we could have had three or more different guys win the whole tournament. What a huge achievement for this team!"
Volleyball sweeps LA Tech twice to position itself in CUSA race
It was another dominant weekend of CUSA play for Middle Tennessee volleyball, who did not let LA Tech pick up a single set while battling on the road in Ruston. With the pair of sweeps, MTSU moves to 6-3 in CUSA play and 15-6 overall in 2023.
Junior Laure Jansen led the team in kills with 14 kills on a .600 hitting clip in Saturday's win, while Trae McCutchen picked up three of MTSU's 10 aces in the three-set win. Taylor Eisert picked up her fourth Setter of the Week honor from the CUSA office after recording 67 assists (11.7 assists per set) across the series.
MTSU Volleyball is the only team at home in Murfreesboro this week, taking on UNC Asheville on Tuesday while serving their open week in CUSA schedule.
Football heads to Lynchburg for final Weekday CUSA matchup of 2023
Softball reps the earned bling from 2023 CUSA Title
Jordan Frazier, as usual, did an incredible job with the ring ceremony shoot for MTSU Softball. Check out his video above to hear from your reigning, defending CUSA Champions!
And with both teams welcoming a host of newcomers to their ranks this year, much of the media availability's focus for each program was on how each team brought their new recruits in to their culture. As Justin Bufford noted, he was once in those new players' shoes after coming in from Shelton State in 2021.
"Going to the veteran players and being like, 'Don't leave those guys out to dry, bring them in. Because the quicker that we can bring them in together, the better our team will be," Bufford said was the key. "Coach McDevitt, he's going to do his job and coach them. But if we can coach them in a player's point-of-view, it makes his job easier and makes winning easier."
For the Lady Raiders, the international flair of the MTSU roster presents its own challenges, but also its own opportunities, as Courtney Whitson pointed out.
"It's really grown me as a leader," Whitson said. "You take 15 girls with completely different backgrounds, personalities and you put them in a locker room and say, 'Get along, let's win a championship.'"
The acclimation process for both teams will be key in a reloaded Conference USA, which will again be a tough league night-in and night-out, particularly on the men's side. Nick McDevitt made sure to load up his non-conference schedule with a plethora of teams expected to finish highly in their leagues to prep for the in-conference play grind.
"I've told our team many times that average nights, average performances will get you beat," McDevitt said. "There's not games where you can play ok and still win. That'll be league play. You can't go to Liberty and play ok and win. You can't go to Western Kentucky and play ok and win. You've got to play well every night."
The Lady Raiders, meanwhile, know the expectations remain high as they attempt to repeat as CUSA Champions, with Rick Insell saying "not everyone is suited" to play for Middle Tennessee.
"We coach them hard; we dream big dreams and make those dreams come true," Insell said. "If you want to play professionally, then we can do that. If you want to get a degree or work on your master's degree, we can do that. We're kind of proud of what we've got at Middle Tennessee State University, and we've got that because of great leadership."
Preseason Polls put both Lady Raiders and Blue Raiders atop Conference USA
Both the Blue Raiders and Lady Raiders received high expectations ahead of CUSA Tipoff last week, when the Conference USA office revealed the results of the preseason coaches' poll for both men's and women's basketball. The Lady Raiders were a unanimous favorite to repeat as CUSA Champions, while the Blue Raiders tied for first place with Liberty on total points, while receiving one first place vote to the Flames' five.
2023 CUSA Men's Basketball Preseason Poll#NoLimitsOnUs | https://t.co/wzrO0JkByu pic.twitter.com/TGAt0bt7V7
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) October 12, 2023
Unanimous.#BLUEnited | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/9UK5c4FZrg
— Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) October 12, 2023
"I've got to be real careful, I don't want to sound like I'm arrogant or cocky, but we expect to be ranked in the top one or two every year," Insell said. "We're not going in for second place, we're going in to win the conference season and then come into Huntsville with a chance to win the conference championship here. It's kind of what we look forward to every year."
The Lady Raiders had three players — Courtney Whitson, Jalynn Gregory and Savannah Wheeler — named to the preseason All-CUSA team. Wheeler was named Preseason Conference USA Player of the Year.
🏅🏅🏅
— Middle Tennessee Women's Basketball (@MT_WBB) October 12, 2023
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 >> @savwheeler4
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 >> @GregoryJalynn, @savwheeler4, @WhitsonCourtney.#BLUEnited | #TrueBlue pic.twitter.com/Pxqw58ZJXN
"It's flattering that your colleagues think enough of your team that you're going to be one of the better teams in your league," McDevitt said. "Obviously, there's a lot of ball in front of us, but having lost what we lost off of last year's team, either to transfer or graduation, and have this many new guys and several of the returning players going to be in drastically different roles, to still be picked as one of the best teams in the league speaks to our coaches and our veteran players, and really the foundation and the culture in the program."
Camryn Weston and Elias King were both selected to the preseason All-CUSA Team.
Racking up the preseason recognition. Time to put in the work to back it up. 😤#BlueRaiders pic.twitter.com/XEsqwBSlyE
— Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball (@MT_MBB) October 12, 2023
Leo Raquin's win highlights scalding hot week for Men's Tennis at ITA Regionals
Senior Leo Raquin capped off an amazing week for Middle Tennessee Men's Tennis on Monday, winning in three sets over Pau Fanlo of Memphis to claim the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship.
LEO RAQUIN WINS THE ITA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! 🏆
— Middle Tennessee Men's Tennis (@MT_MensTennis) October 16, 2023
Raquin defeats Pau Fanlo of Memphis 4-6, 6-4, 6-0!#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/2GPdKsjsfU
Raquin was one of two Blue Raiders (Marcel Kamrowski) to make the semifinals of the singles draw and one of three (Ondrej Horak) to make the quarterfinals. Five Blue Raiders (Karim Al-Amin and Demis Taramonlis) made the Round of 16 in Chattanooga this weekend.
"What a crazy match day!" associate head coach Andrea Caligiana said. "Leo was up 3-0 and 40-15 in the first set and then down 4-6, 0-3 to fight back and win 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. He had a lot of mental toughness but most importantly his fitness level is what made the difference. He could have played three more hours if he needed to. Coach Jimmy and I asked Leo to make some adjustments to his routines and habits when he first arrived. We are proud of him listening and doing some things more professionally. I believe these things are helping him to play much better.
"Lastly, as I said yesterday, it was a great team tournament and I feel like we could have had three or more different guys win the whole tournament. What a huge achievement for this team!"
Volleyball sweeps LA Tech twice to position itself in CUSA race
It was another dominant weekend of CUSA play for Middle Tennessee volleyball, who did not let LA Tech pick up a single set while battling on the road in Ruston. With the pair of sweeps, MTSU moves to 6-3 in CUSA play and 15-6 overall in 2023.
Raise your hands if you love a #BlueRaider WIN! 🤩#BLUEnited | #BetterInTheBoro pic.twitter.com/h2xCfZaTep
— Middle Tennessee Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) October 14, 2023
Junior Laure Jansen led the team in kills with 14 kills on a .600 hitting clip in Saturday's win, while Trae McCutchen picked up three of MTSU's 10 aces in the three-set win. Taylor Eisert picked up her fourth Setter of the Week honor from the CUSA office after recording 67 assists (11.7 assists per set) across the series.
🏐 SETTER OF THE WEEK 🏐
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) October 16, 2023
presented by Blenders Eyewear //
🏅4️⃣ Taylor Eisert, @MT_Volleyball#NoLimitsOnUs | https://t.co/Nj1vCEvZXb pic.twitter.com/4T8wpbpjAI
MTSU Volleyball is the only team at home in Murfreesboro this week, taking on UNC Asheville on Tuesday while serving their open week in CUSA schedule.
There's just ☝️ match this week and it's in the 'Boro!#BLUEnited | #BetterInTheBoro pic.twitter.com/aejuM0rvjE
— Middle Tennessee Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) October 16, 2023
Football heads to Lynchburg for final Weekday CUSA matchup of 2023
Wheels up 🛫 #BLUEnited | #EATT pic.twitter.com/NRabswDip8
— Middle Tennessee Football (@MT_FB) October 16, 2023
Softball reps the earned bling from 2023 CUSA Title
Forever Champions ♾️#BLUEnited | ⚡️⬆️ pic.twitter.com/kF7OMiLAGt
— Middle Tennessee Softball (@MT_Softball) October 15, 2023
Jordan Frazier, as usual, did an incredible job with the ring ceremony shoot for MTSU Softball. Check out his video above to hear from your reigning, defending CUSA Champions!
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Basketball
/ Men's Tennis
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/ Women's Volleyball
/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Basketball
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballMTSU Football Weekly Press Conference 10/27/25
Monday, October 27
Blue Raider Notebook Presented by TOA - October 27th
Monday, October 27
2025 NCAA Women of the Year - Top 30 Honoree - MTSU Women's Golfer Abbie Lee
Thursday, October 23
MTSU Football at Delaware post-game press conference – 10/22/25
Thursday, October 23
