Blue Raiders Prepared for UConn Tournament

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Blue Raiders will look to continue upon their successful start as they travel to Storrs, Conn., to compete in the UConn Toyota Classic.

Middle Tennessee is currently 10-1 this season with its first loss coming against Missouri State last Sunday. Before falling to the Bears the Blue Raiders were ranked 25th in the CSTV/AVCA poll and are now 29th after receiving 33 votes on Monday.

Middle Tennessee begins the tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. when it plays Long Island (6-4). The Blue Raiders will continue the tournament at 9 a.m. on Saturday when they face Hofstra (5-4). Then Middle Tennessee wraps-up the UConn Toyota Classic Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. by playing tournament host UConn (7-1).

"I scheduled these teams because Hofstra and Long Island both made the NCAA Tournament last year. You can never tell from one season to the next how a team is going to be but both of those teams have played a tough schedule," head coach Matt Peck said.

Junior Ashley Adams currently leads the team with 183 kills and is averaging 4.69 kills per game. Adams also has an attack percentage of .365. On defense, Adams ranks third in blocks with her 48 blocks. Adams was named Tournament MVP of the Blue Raider Bash as she helped lead Middle Tennessee to its three wins on the weekend.

Seniors Alicia Lemau'u and Quanshell Scott also received All-Tournament honors during the Blue Raider Bash. Lemau'u currently has 162 digs as she averages 4.15 per game. Lemau'u also leads the team in service aces with 11. Scott averages 1.62 blocks per game as she leads the team in blocks with 63.

The Blue Raiders are 7-0 on the road this season and have won all three of the tournaments they have played in.

"We are pretty focused on this weekend. I think the match against UConn will probably be the premiere match," Peck said. We fully expect for them to have a good crowd there and we have played well in those situations this year. There was a huge crowd at Creighton, Iowa State and Idaho and we played very well in those situations."

Broadcasts of Middle Tennessee's matches at the UConn Toyota Classic will be available on www.goblueraiders.com.

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MTAthletics for continued updates.