Blue Raiders Win a Thriller vs. SEMO to Capture First Win of Season

Friday, September 6

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

7 PM

Middle Tennessee

1-3,0-0CUSA

SEMO

1-4,0-0OVC

Southeast Mo. St.

Middle Tenn.

9/6/2024 10:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

MTSU was down 0-2 but kept fighting to secure the win

By: Jake Freelund, MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee volleyball secures their first win of the season after a thriller vs. SEMO. MTSU showed no quit after going down 0-2 and fought back to win the match 3-2. The scores of the sets were 18-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, and 15-11. After winning the third set by a narrow margin, the Blue Raiders never looked back and played like the best version of themselves.

The Blue Raiders (1-3, 0-0) have gotten better in each match this season. MTSU started the season by losing 0-3, but in each match have won one more set than the last to finally secure the win tonight. The Blue Raiders had their best hitting percentage of the season, hitting .315. Middle Tennessee volleyball recorded an astounding 74 kills on the night, to SEMO's (1-4, 0-0) 61.

Freshman Andi Spies had the performance of the night by recording a triple-double with 11 kills, 38 assists, and 11 digs, and added three service aces. In addition to her performance, three other Blue Raiders recorded double digit kills in Adriana Rhoda, Laure Jansen, and Kiera Booth. Another standout performance was by freshman Ally Magre who recorded a career-high 22 digs. Freshman middle blocker Emma Nilson also had her best performance to date, by recording a team-high five blocks.

Following her all-around performance, Andi Spies said the following: "To pull-off a comeback like this, it took a full team effort. It would've been impossible to have pulled off this comeback without the support of every one of my teammates, and I'm extremely proud of every member of team."

By the Numbers

64: Four Blue Raiders combined for 64 kills: Adriana Rhoda, Laure Jansen, Kiera Booth, and Andi Spies.
300: In addition to the number of kills, all four of those Blue Raiders from the previous bullet all had a hitting percentage above .300.
92: Senior Laure Jansen continues to inch closer to the 100 service aces mark, now just needing eight more after recording five on the day between the two matches.
18: Freshman setter Reagan McIntosh had the best performance of her collegiate career to date, recording 18 assists, and added one service ace.

Up Next
Tomorrow, Sept. 7, the Middle Tennessee volleyball will be taking on Austin Peay at 6 pm at the AMG for their third match of the Blue Raider Bash. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats can be found at Stat Broadcast.

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).