MTSU Hosts FIU for Two-Match Series at AMG

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee volleyball will be continuing Conference USA play, hosting FIU on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 4 and 5. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT for Friday's match and it will be MTSU's "Dig Pink" match to raise awareness for breast cancer. Saturday's match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. CT and it will be MTSU's #BLUEnited match. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats can be found at StatBroadcast.com.

This past week, Middle Tennessee volleyball recorded a record of 1-2, earning a sweep victory over Alabama A&M and losing at Sam Houston twice. Senior Laure Jansen took home CUSA Defensive Player of the Week honors after setting an all-time program record of 39 digs and 9.75 digs/set in a single match at Sam Houston, on Sept. 26. On the week, Jansen recorded 74 digs, good for 7.4 digs/set. In addition to the CUSA award, the Valburg, Netherlands native took home the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Week. Jansen leads Conference USA in digs with 255 and is third in service aces with 22.

Junior Adriana Rhoda had a record-breaking performance of her own, recording 7.33 kills/set at Sam Houston on Sept. 27. This was the highest mark a Blue Raider has recorded during the 25-point era. Rhoda leads CUSA in kills/set with 3.89. During MTSU's sweep victory over Alabama A&M, the stars of the night were the Blue Raider's two middle blockers, Kiera Booth and Emma Nilson. They combined to have a hitting percentage of a ridiculous .649 on 27 kills. They also added eight blocks between the two of them. On the season, Booth has been one of the most efficient student-athletes in CUSA, ranking fifth in hitting percentage with a great .320.

Scouting FIU
This will be the 43rd and 44th match-ups between the Blue Raiders and the Panthers in their respective program's histories. MTSU holds a record of 28-14 in those match-ups, with FIU taking the most recent match-up in November of last season. The Panthers are currently 2-13 with a conference record of 0-2 after dropping two matches to UTEP last week.

FIU is led by head coach Cristina Robertson who was named head coach of the FIU volleyball program on Jan. 11, 2022. Last season, Robertson led FIU to a strong 8-8 CUSA record, advancing to the CUSA Championships Semifinals for the first time since 2018.

The Panthers are offensively led by Jillian Huckabey, who leads the team with 167 kills, good for 3.15 per set which ranks eighth in CUSA. Defensively, FIU is led by Mandi Morioka, who leads the team in digs with 216, good for 3.93 digs/set which ranks sixth in CUSA.

Quick Facts

Freshman Andi Spies recorded the first triple-double in program history, during the 25-point era, earning her CUSA Freshman of the Week (Sept. 9). Spies took home a second consecutive CUSA Freshman of the Week (Sept. 16) making her the second student-athlete to win multiple in the same season (Adriana Rhoda).
Senior Laure Jansen took home CUSA Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 30) after her record-setting performance at Sam Houston on 9/26 where she set an all-time program-record with 39 digs in a single match.
On 9/17 vs. UVA, Laure Jansen reached historic the historic milestones of 100 career service aces and 1000 career digs, doing so on the same night.
Freshman Emma Nilson recorded the highest single-game blocks/set ratio for a freshman in program history during the 25-point era vs. Arkansas State, recording 3.0 blocks/set.

Keeping Up with the Blue Raiders
Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter/X (@MT_Volleyball), Instagram (@mt_volleyball), and Facebook (Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Volleyball).

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Players Mentioned

Kiera Booth

Laure Jansen

Emma Nilson

Adriana Rhoda

Andi Spies

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics