Volleyball Claims Tournament Title at Appalachian State

BOONE, N.C. - Middle Tennessee volleyball (3-0) won its first tournament of the season, defeating Marshall and host Appalachian State on Saturday to take home the tournament trophy at the Mast General Store Appalachian State Classic.

Sophomore Ashley Adams had a big weekend, logging in 49 kills in the three matches, and was rewarded with the tournament MVP trophy. Blue Raider juniors Alicia Lemau'u and Quanshell Scott were also voted to the All-Tournament team.

"Ashley Adams was amazing this weekend, she was really unstoppable," said Head Coach Matt Peck. "She was a go-to player all weekend and when the team wasn't playing well as a whole she carried us."

The Blue Raiders began the day with a 3-1 (30-28, 24-30, 30-22, 30-27) victory over Marshall (1-2). Middle Tennessee had 71 kills in the match but also committed 35 errors. Adams led both teams with 25 kills.

The win over Marshall set up a meeting between two undefeated teams as the Blue Raiders faced host Appalachian State to close out the tournament Saturday night. Middle Tennessee proved it was sharp and ready to play, shutting out the host team 3-0 (30-22, 30-16, 30-16) notching a scorching .439 attack percentage as a team and holding Appalachian State (2-1) to a .116 attack percentage. Three Blue Raiders registered double figure kills, led by Adams with 14 and Scott and fellow junior Victoria Monasterolo each had 13.

In the three-match tournament, Middle Tennessee dropped just one game, sweeping Radford on Friday and host Appalachian State on Saturday. Freshman Savannah Pegg saw her first action as a Blue Raider against Appalachian State becoming the fifth newcomer to see action in the weekend tournament.

"We played better in each match we played this weekend," Peck said. "The match against Appalachian State was probably the best I have seen the team play since I took over the team."

Middle Tennessee returns to action on Friday Sept. 1 in a tournament at the University of Nebraska. The Blue Raiders open the tournament against Long Beach State at 5 p.m.

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