Blue Raiders Shut Down North Texas

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Blue Raiders extended their win streak to seven on Sunday defeating North Texas 3-0 (30-18, 30-17, 30-21).

Freshman Alyssa King entered the match at the end of game three, 20-19, and served 10 in a row to seal the win for the Blue Raiders (17-1, 4-0 SBC). King had two service aces and served of the last 10 points of the match.

"Alyssa did an outstanding job. I think Leslie was struggling in games two and three, she was having some ball handling problems and location problems with the sets. It was great that Alyssa could come off the bench cold after standing and not doing anything for an hour and serve 11 balls and connect with our hitters. She did an amazing job," head coach Matt Peck said. "I hope our upperclassmen look at that and see what this freshman did and realize they need to do a better job day to day no matter who the opponent is and do a better job."

In the match, Middle Tennessee recorded 37 kills led by junior Ashley Adams who had 13 kills of her own. Adams ended the match with a .455 attack percentage.

"We had a big match Friday against a good team. I was expecting a little bit of a let down headed into today and that happened. I don't think it is affecting our team at all but I did want the team to have a little bit of a wake-up call," Peck said. "When I put subs in off the bench for people who weren't playing well, they did a good job. I think that is important to help our players realize that if they don't play well there is someone behind them who can come in off the bench and coach can sit me down."

"I think that is important as we head into the second part of the season. I am hoping we can carry that over through the rest of the season."

North Texas had just 18 kills in the match and posted a -.080 attack percentage. Brooke Engel and Katy Prokof lead the Mean Green with six kills each.

On defense, Adams had eight block assists and 14 service receptions in the match. Adams also scored a team high 18 points.

Sophomore Ashley Mead had 11 kills to add to the Blue Raider offense and ended the match with a .333 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Sasha McGlothin added assistance on defense with seven block assists. Also on defense, senior Alicia Lemau'u had 14 digs and 11 service receptions for a .917 reception percentage.

In game one, the Blue Raiders held North Texas to a -.071 hitting percentage with just five kills.

Kozon served 12 in a row to extended Middle Tennessee's lead to 15, 22-7 in game one. Kozon ended the match with three service aces with a .950 service percentage.

Middle Tennessee will be back in action on Friday Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. as it faces UALR. Then on Sunday, Oct. 7 the Blue Raiders will play Arkansas State at 1 p.m. to wrap-up its four-game home stand.

Live broadcast of the games will be available on www.goblueraiders.com. Admission to all home volleyball matches is free.

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