MTSU Welcomes Alabama A&M to the AMG

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – On Tuesday, September 24, Middle Tennessee volleyball (3-8, 0-0) welcome Alabama A&M (2-8, 0-0) to the Alumni Memorial Gym for their final match before conference play begins. The game will be played at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats can be found at statbroadcast.com.

This past week, the Blue Raiders traveled to Virginia for two matches. Middle Tennessee dropped both matches, but showed a ton of potential going forward for the rest of the season. The week was highlighted by senior Laure Jansen reaching major career milestones of 100 aces and 1000 digs in the same match on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Between the two matches, Jansen tallied 40 digs and five service aces.

Freshman Aowyn Schrader had her two best performances as a Blue Raider at Virginia, reaching a new career-high in kills: 16. Prior to this week, Schrader had never reached double-digit kills, but reached 16 and 12 in two matches against Virginia. The reigning two-time Freshman of the Week, Andi Spies, had herself a solid week, recording a double-double in the first match by tallying 40 assists and 13 digs in just four sets. It was her fourth double-double of the season.

Scouting The Bulldogs
This will be the fifth time MTSU volleyball faces Alabama A&M in program history. The Blue Raiders hold a 4-0 record in those matchups with the last one taking place in September 2022. The Bulldogs enter this matchup on an eight-match losing streak after beginning the season 2-0.

Alabama A&M volleyball is led by head coach Dr. Brandon Reeves who is in his first season at the helm after spending the 2023 season as an assistant coach. On the court, the Bulldogs are led by Saldy Amparo-Smith who is averaging 4.09 kills/set. She also has six service aces in 2024. A season ago, Amparo-Smith was awarded with 2023 SWAC Newcomer of the Year and made the All-SWAC Second Team.

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 player to win consecutive in the same season (Adriana Rhoda).
On Sept. 17 at Virginia, senior Laure Jansen reached the historic milestones of 100 career service aces and 1000 career digs, doing so on the same night.
Junior Adriana Rhoda was named to the preseason CUSA All-Conference team and leads the team with 165 kills. Rhoda is at 986.5 points in her career needing 13.5 more to reach 1000 in her career in just her junior year.
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

Laure Jansen

Emma Nilson

Adriana Rhoda

Aowyn Schrader

Andi Spies

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics