NOTEBOOK: Soccer and Volleyball return home for quartet of home games this weekend

9/30/2024 4:59:00 PM | General, Softball, Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball

Soccer picks up first CUSA win in El Paso, Volleyball returns home with CUSA Defensive Player of the Week

By: Sam Doughton, MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee soccer found its form on Thursday night in El Paso, taking down UTEP 2-0 thanks in large part to the attacking efforts of Idun Kvaale.

The Molde, Norway native opened the scoring for the Blue Raiders with a 30-yard shot outside the box to beat the Miner keeper in the 30th minutes on Thursday. The winger later assisted on Manon Lebargy's goal in the second half. Goalkeeper Demi Gronauer picked up her first career shutout in between the posts for MTSU, saving seven UTEP shots on Thursday.

Following a 1-0 loss to New Mexico State on Sunday, where the Aggies scored the winner in just the 88th minute, MTSU returns home for a pair of games this weekend. MTSU will host Jax State at 7 p.m. on Thursday and will welcome Kennesaw State to Murfreesboro on Sunday for a 1 p.m. match.

Admission for Middle Tennessee Soccer at Dean A. Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium is always free! Come out and cheer on the Blue Raiders through the rest of conference play! Both matches will also be streamed on ESPN+.

✅ Win on Thursday
✅ Looking to make it 2️⃣ in a row on Sunday#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/0pmj1iIfg5
— Middle Tennessee Soccer (@MT_Soccer) September 29, 2024

Jansen takes home CUSA Defensive Player of the Week honors

Just weeks after taking over the libero jersey for the Blue Raiders, Laure Jansen has set program records for MTSU, earning CUSA Defensive Player of the Week honors this week despite MTSU's pair of losses to Sam Houston on the road.

In Thursday's match against the Bearkats, Jansen recorded 39 digs and 9.75 digs/set. The 39 digs tied a program record and the 9.75 digs/set set a new program record.

Congratulations to Laure Jansen on winning @ConferenceUSA Defensive Player of the Week after her historic performance at Sam Houston!🤩

📰 https://t.co/ar9KNlTyaD #BLUEnited | #BetterInTheBoro pic.twitter.com/PkAIjYtbDm
— Middle Tennessee Volleyball (@MT_Volleyball) September 30, 2024

🏐 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK 🏐

🏅1⃣ Laure Jansen, @MT_Volleyball #NoHayLimites | https://t.co/DDbqljJZWj pic.twitter.com/Yh3Fk1bd7z
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) September 30, 2024

MTSU will look to get back in the win column at home in the AMG this weekend, taking on FIU on Friday and Saturday. Friday's first serve is set for 6 p.m. and is the program's annual Dig Pink game. Saturday's first serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Cross Country continues to grow after Gans Creek Classic

Amidst another strong field in Columbia, Mo., Middle Tennessee Track and Field Coach Keith Vroman was pleased with the progress made by both cross-country programs over the weekend. The men finished 15th in the 38-team field in the 8k, while the women finished 19th out of 38 teams in the women's 6k.

"Both teams improved a lot from two weeks ago," Vroman said. "We are showing great improvement as we head into the last month of training before our championships."

Final results from Columbia.

Allan Kiplagat finishes 10th in the Men's 8k!

Odilia Jepchumba finishes 21st in the Women's 6k.#BLUEnited pic.twitter.com/O5KxoY9Ckn
— Middle Tennessee XC/Track & Field (@MT_TrackField) September 27, 2024

ICYMI: Football hits open week at the perfect time

With football on an open week this week, there was no weekly press conference with Derek Mason and Blue Raider players on Monday morning. They'll be back in action next week to preview MTSU's matchup against LA Tech on October 10.

In the meantime, if you haven't already, you can check out my sidebar from the stadium formerly known as the Liberty Bowl this weekend, where Mason and the rest of the Blue Raiders highlighted what their focus is during this 12-day layoff.

With non-conference play behind them and a 12-day layoff between games ahead, the Blue Raiders are looking to continue seeing progress.

MTSU Staff Writer @sjdoughton spoke with the Blue Raiders after last night's game:https://t.co/oxgwPaL2p3
— Middle Tennessee Football (@MT_FB) September 29, 2024

Softball opens fall schedule in Atlanta

Strong pitching defined MTSU Softball's start of fall ball this weekend at Georgia Tech, with MTSU tossing nine scoreless frames against the Yellow Jackets in a 1-0 defeat in 10 innings. Tori Coffman tossed five scoreless innings to start the day, as a host of Blue Raider pitchers thrived in the circle.

MTSU will host Vol State this week at home on Thursday, Oct. 3 with first pitch set for 5:00 p.m. CT. Later in the week the Blue Raiders will be hosting Trevecca on Saturday, Oct. 5 with the game set to start at 1:00 p.m. CT.

TOMORROW IS THE DAY‼️
Fall season begins at Georgia Tech tomorrow at 12 pm CT!#BLUEnited | ⚡️⬆️ pic.twitter.com/Vu9OJdPGvh
— Middle Tennessee Softball (@MT_Softball) September 28, 2024

Alumni game ✅
Now onto the fall season… first game is this Sunday at Georgia Tech!#BLUEnited | ⚡️⬆️ pic.twitter.com/Oa7Xre5gIM
— Middle Tennessee Softball (@MT_Softball) September 24, 2024

Basketball Season started officially in the Glass House

While last Monday was the first day of official practice for both men's and women's basketball, both teams have stayed sharp through the early start to the season. Check out some of this week's social content from both of our programs below!