The Middle Tennessee volleyball team gave maximum effort today in a five-set battle with Florida Atlantic. The five-set match saw career-highs and even program records be set and pushed to new levels.
The Blue Raiders (15-9, 4-6 C-USA) have found themselves on a two-match win streak after sweeping their season series with the Florida Atlantic Owls (13-10, 3-8 C-USA), with set scores of 25-19, 24-26, 25-16, 23-25, and 15-11. As a team the Blue Raiders hit .369 (fifth highest match percentage of the season) on the day and hit home 14 service aces compared to the Owls four. 14 service aces is the most the Blue Raiders have tallied in conference this season, and is only behind the 15 they hit home in their match with Alabama A&M earlier in September. With today's win, Middle Tennessee have guaranteed their first winning season since 2013.
Three Blue Raiders tallied 15 or more kills on the day, while junior Taylor Eisert set them up for success with 52 total assists. Senior Kayla Henley led the way with 19 kills (19-4-31) on a .484 hitting percentage to go along with eight digs. Not far behind was freshman Adri Rhoda with 17 kills (17-5-36) on a .333 hitting percentage, along with her two service aces in-a-row to kick off the fifth set. Freshman Trae McCutchan may have had her breakout match, hitting home a career-high 16 kills (16-5-34) home, including a team-leading six in the first set alone.
Senior Marley Banton was filling the stat sheet as much as she ever has, digging up a season-high 28 balls and tying her career highs in assists (10) and aces (4). Banton also set the new 25-point era program record for career digs, needing seven digs on the day and reaching nine in just the first set. Banton passed Chelsea Ross who has held the record (1,193 digs) since 2015 and has pushed the new bar to 1,216 digs and counting.
By the Numbers
4: Senior Dasia Smith was making a living from the service line today, serving up a steaming-hot four service aces to set her new career-high.
6.3: Before reaching the shortened fifth set, Banton had recorded 25 digs for a 6.3 digs per set average in the first four sets. Banton ended the day with a 5.6 digs per set average.
7.0: The Blue Raider block drove the Owls crazy, but senior Kaylee Oscarson was their biggest pain with seven total blocks on the day. Her three solo blocks on the day pushes her new 25-point era single-season record for the Blue Raiders to 23 and counting.
250: Rhoda passed the 250-kill mark on the season, doing so on a .265 hitting percentage through 24 matches.
828: With 52 assists on the day, Eisert was able to reach 828 assists on the season which sets a new career-high for the Louisville native. Her new career-high now ranks sixth on the 25-point era record list.
Blue Raider Notes
- Rhoda has 57 service aces on the season already, giving her first place on the 25-point scoring era records list and seventh on the all-time list. She needs three more aces to take fifth on the all-time list and 34 to take first place.
- Banton currently sits at 1,216 career digs, giving her sole possession of first place in the 25-point era for career digs. She currently sits in seventh on the all-time list.
- Oscarson holds the 25-point era record for single season solo blocks at 23 and counting.
Up Next
The Blue Raiders are on the road next week as they head to Texas to take on UTEP and North Texas.
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