Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
2-0,0-0CUSA
Evansville
0-2,0-0MVC
Two named to All-Tournament Team after 2-1 finish at Big Dawg Kickoff
8/30/2025 8:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.– The Blue Raiders finished the first weekend of the 2025 season with a winning record after splitting their matches on the final day of the Big Dawg Kickoff. Middle Tennessee came out victorious at the end of a 5-set thriller with Evansville and fell in straight sets to Butler in the following match. The set scores of the matches were as follows: 23-25, 25-20, 26-24, 18-25, 15-7 (Evansville), 24-26, 8-25, 22-25 (Butler).
The first match of the day against the Purple Aces was a battle until the very end. Both teams had the same amount of attempts (170), hitting errors (33), assists (53), and blocks (9), with the Blue Raiders notching 1 more kill than the Aces to total 56, and out-served Evansville 6 aces to 2. The Blue Raiders saw double-digit kill contributions from Payton Deidesheimer, Michaela Dlouhá, and Aowyn Schrader, Caroline Macander tallying 46 assists, and Isil Yilmaz leading the defense with 19 digs.
The match against Butler was their mental health awareness match, and finished the weekend for Middle Tennessee. Butler's Elise Ward was the only player in the match to notch double-digit kills. The Blue Raiders were out-performed by the Bulldogs in every stat category, with the highest kill total on the team for the match shared between Payton Deidesheimer and Gabby Clinkscale with 5.
Logan Carr and Caroline Macander were named to the Big Dawg Kickoff All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the weekend. Carr tallied 15 kills and 12 total blocks, hitting a .414 clip on the weekend, while Macander notched 99 assists and 46 digs, securing a double-double in two of the three matches.
"I thought we saw some good fight out of our team," said Head Coach Alexa Keckler. "I feel like we battled and didn't lay down, and I love that. Overall, 2-1 is a solid weekend off the bat with 14 new players. We're going to keep learning, keep fighting, and keep pushing each other."
Keckler also praised All-Tournament Team nominees Caroline Macander and Logan Carr: "Caroline played a lot of really great defense and had several service runs from the back court, and Logan—I think after that first match she kind of got a taste of some things and then really shined. She did a great job of working hard and being up and available—just overall super consistent and someone we could rely on."
By the Numbers
- 33: Payton Deidesheimer is the current Middle Tennessee kills leader with 33.
- 20: The Blue Raiders combined for 20 aces this weekend, the most out of every team at the Big Dawg Kickoff.
- 1: Caroline Macander was 1 assist away from tallying 100 assists on the weekend.
Up Next
Middle Tennessee volleyball will host the Blue Raider Bash at Alumni Memorial Gymnasium next weekend, featuring matches against Marist, Mississippi State, and UT Martin. Each match featuring the Blue Raiders will be streamed on ESPN+.
Keeping Up with the Blue Raiders
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Twitter/X @MT_Volleyball (https://twitter.com/MT_Volleyball)
Instagram @mt_volleyball (https://www.instagram.com/mt_volleyball/)
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