MTSU set for Conference USA Tournament this weekend

LYNCHBURG, Va. — The Middle Tennessee volleyball team will travel to Lynchburg, Va. to take on FIU in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament Championships. The match is on Friday, November 17 at 5 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+ and have live stats to follow along.

MTSU is the three-seed in the CUSA tournament. The Blue Raiders are first in conference in assists per set earning 12.9, kills per set 13.8 and second in hitting percentage of .308.

Eisert has totaled 1120 assists this season and is first in conference in assists per set earning 11.2 per set. Redshirt senior Kayla Henley leads the team in kills with 311 earning 3.1 per set. Junior Laure Jansen has been outstanding on both sides of the ball this season tallying 251 kills and 253 digs. Rhoda reached the 100-career mark in service aces against Jacksonville State. Rhoda is third in CUSA in kills per set averaging 3.4 per set. Graduate student Kaylee Oscarson has recorded 94 total blocks. Oscarson is third in conference is hitting percentage hitting at a .417 clip.

Scouting FIU Panthers
FIU is this season and are the sixth-seed in the tournament. The Panthers fell in both matches against New Mexico to finish the regular season. FIU returns six players from last season. The team added six transfers and three freshmen.

On offense, senior Jade Sadeiko leads the team in kills with 316. Sadeiko is seventh in conference in points per set tallying 3.5 per set and eighth in CUSA in kills per set with 3 per set. Sophomore Savannah Cook has recorded 743 assists and is fourth in conference in assists per set earning 9.3 per set. Senior Yasso Amin is third in conference in service aces per set averaging 0.4 per set.

On defense, senior Travel Morris is sixth in CUSA in blocks per set tallying a block per set and has totaled 102 total blocks. Sophomore Mandi Morioka has earned 300 digs this season.

This will be the 42nd meeting between the two programs. The two teams split during the regular season with both matches going five sets.

CUSA Tournament Schedule
Friday, November 17 – Quarterfinals
Match 1: (1) WKU vs. (8) Jax State (ESPN+) – 10 a.m. CT
Match 2: (4) UTEP vs. (5) Liberty (ESPN+) – 12 p.m. CT
Match 3: (2) NM State vs. (7) LA Tech (ESPN+) – 3 p.m. CT
Match 4: (3) MTSU vs. (6) FIU (ESPN+) – 5 p.m. CT

Saturday, November 18 – Semifinals
Match 5: M1 Winner vs. M2 Winner (ESPN+) – 10 a.m. CT
Match 6: M3 Winner vs. M4 Winner (ESPN+) – 12:30 p.m. CT

Sunday, November 19 – Championship Match
Match 7: Semifinal Winners (ESPN+) – 11 p.m. CT

Blue Raider Notes

The Blue Raiders are first in conference in assists per set earning 12.9, kills per set 13.8 and second in hitting percentage of .308.
Oscarson is third in conference in hitting percentage with a .417 hitting clip.
Rhoda is third in CUSA in kills per set. She has earned Offensive Player of the week three times this season. Rhoda eclipsed the 100-career mark in service aces against Jacksonville State. She is up to 102 career service aces. The program record in the 25-point era is 116 held by Marley Banton.
Eisert broke the program record for career assists in the current 25-point era. The Louisville, Ky. native is the fourth Blue Raider all-time to reach 3,000 career assists. This season, she is a six-time CUSA Setter of the Week. Eisert was tabbed Tennessee Sports Writers Association Volleyball Player of the Week on 9/12. She leads conference in assists per set with 11.2.

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

Kayla Henley

Laure Jansen

Kaylee Oscarson

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics