Volleyball Third at Bradley Invite

Peoria, IL - Middle Tennessee Lady Raider volleyball placed third in the Bradley Invitational Saturday with a 30-25, 30-17, 30-14 win over Western Illinois in Robertson Field House.

The win put the skids on a three game losing streak for the Lady Raiders, as the team improves to 3-5 on the season, and the Westerwinds of Illinois fall to 0-5. Middle Tennessee struggled through the first two matches of the tournament this weekend, but ended the tournament on a high note. Junior Katie Thiesen, from Rockford, IL, was named to the Bradley University All-Tournament team.

"We started out a little sluggish in game one," Head Coach Lisa Kissee said. "Caia (Morstad) and Amy (Carpenter) gave us the lift we needed to pick up our intensity."

Freshman Dara McClean continued to impress in serving as she registered three service aces in the match. She also had three aces in the match against UAB on Sept. 4.

Kissee said McClean had a great serving night, and continues to improve. She said she is also impressed with sophomore Karisse Baker, who is giving the team the transition they need in the middle.

Freshman Shakeithia Deckard ended her double kill streak, as she only registered nine against the Westerwinds. She had pushed the streak to five with 12 kills in the Lady Raider's 19-30, 20-30, 28-30 loss to host Bradley University earlier in the day.

Middle Tennessee will be back in action on Friday Sept. 14 when the team travels to Lexington, Kentucky to compete in the Kentucky Conference Challenge.

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