Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
4-3,0-0CUSA
Miami (Ohio)
4-4,0-0MAC
Volleyball hands Duquesne first loss in Friday split
9/12/2025 8:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
OXFORD, Ohio – Middle Tennessee Volleyball finishes 1-1 on day one of the Miami/Best Western Invitational. The day included hard fought four-set battles against both the host Miami (OH) and Duquesne. The Blue Raiders fell to the RedHawks in their first match of the day but showed out for their second match to give the Dukes their first loss of the season. The set scores of the matches were as follows: 19-25, 25-21, 17-25, 14-25 (Miami OH), 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 (Duquesne).
The Blue Raiders started the day with a battle against the RedHawks of Miami (OH). Middle Tennessee's .078 hitting efficiency tells the story of the match. Even with 45 kills and 82 digs, the highest number of digs posted by Middle Tennessee this season, it was no match for the Blue Raiders errors. Even though the match resulted in a loss for Middle Tennessee, there were still several Blue Raiders who contributed stellar performances. Raegan Durbin and Payton Deidesheimer led the offense with 14 and 13 kills. Durbin also notched 10 digs, garnering her second career double-double, Caroline Macander also double-doubling with 23 assists and 24 digs. Isil Yilmaz and Marie Lowell both tallied double-digit digs with 18 and 10.
The highlight of the day was the Blue Raiders downing the Dukes. Raegan Durbin led the charge with an incredible 24 kills from the outside pin, a new 2025 Middle Tennessee individual match high. Durbin also notched 10 digs to secure her third career double-double. Gabrielle Clinkscale and Michaela Dlouhá both contributed double-digit kills with 10, Payton Deidesheimer one shy of double-digits with nine. Isil Yilmaz led the defense with 15 digs, Marie Lowell behind her with a career-high 11. Caroline Macander totaled 45 assists and 10 digs, notching her fifth career double-double.
"It was a good bounce back from the second match," said Head Coach Alexa Keckler. "It was really great to see the girls attack the game plan, make adjustments mid-match, and just really do a great job of showing a lot of resiliency."
By the Numbers
68: Caroline Macander tallied 68 assists on the day, securing a double-double in both matches.
41: Raegan Durbin totaled 41 points across both matches of the day; Durbin grabbed two double-doubles and set a Middle Tennessee 2025 match high with 24 kills against Duquesne.
11: Marie Lowell posted back-to-back career-highs, totaling 10 digs against Miami (OH) and then 11 digs against Duquesne.
Up Next
Middle Tennessee Volleyball plays the final match of the Miami/Best Western Invitational tomorrow Saturday, September 13 at 11:00 a.m. CT against Southern Indiana. The match will be streamed on RedHawks All-Access.
Keeping Up with the Blue Raiders
Follow the Blue Raiders on social media:
Twitter/X @MT_Volleyball (https://twitter.com/MT_Volleyball)
Instagram @mt_volleyball (https://www.instagram.com/mt_volleyball/)
and Facebook Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Volleyball (https://www.facebook.com/BlueRaiderVolleyball).
