Middle Tennessee lost its first opening set of the season when the Jackrabbits took a 25-22 win to begin play.

"We got beat in the first game and that is the best thing that could have happened because we played lights out afterward. I think it is a good sign to see our team can play well under pressure because it was all or nothing. Looking at our hitting percentages we just did a better job passing throughout. We did a better job passing, were in system more and we kept them out of system more. We were blocking well and we out dug them by 18 balls in the match," head coach Matt Peck said.

The Blue Raiders pulled out a nail-biter in the second set 25-20 with a kill by Oladinni and never looked back. Middle Tennessee won the next two sets by scores of 25-27 and 25-19 respectively.

"They are a tournament tested team; they were in the NCAA tournament last year, drew Nebraska and weren't afraid of anyone. The win tonight is going to go a long way in helping us down the road in getting ready for some tough matches we have coming up especially next weekend," Peck said.

Senior Ashley Asberry was named tournament MVP after leading the Blue Raiders throughout the weekend. Juniors Ashley Mead and Sasha McGlothin were also named to the all-tournament team.

Asberry ended the match with 16 kills for a .714 hitting percentage. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native also had two solo blocks and six block assists on the night.

"We had some career nights. It was a career high in digs for Ashley Waugh and career high kills for Sasha we also had good matches from Asberry and Mead. It was a very good team effort. Off the bench Brynne Henderson played very well and came up big with some passes for us," Peck said.

Mead had 12 kills on the night with a .391 hitting percentage while McGlothin had 11 kills hitting .421.

Sophomore Izabela Kozon added 11 kills of her own with six block assists on the defensive side.

Junior Leslie Clark recorded 52 assists on the night giving her 2,951 for her career and moving her to third on the all-time list in the category.

"Leslie had a very good match tonight. She did a very good job of exploiting the other team and sometimes she doesn't get the credit because she is not terminating the ball or putting it in the bleachers but she created a lot of those opportunities," Peck said.

As a team the Blue Raiders knocked down 58 kills for a hitting percentage of .312. Defensively, the squad had 9.5 blocks and 61 digs.

Middle Tennessee will be back in action on Sept. 5 and 6 when it plays host to the Blue Raider Bash. The Blue Raiders will first face Lipscomb at 12 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5.

All-Tournament Team

MacKenzie Agner, South Dakota State
Hayley Larsen, Idaho
Sarah Conwell, Idaho
Ashley Mead, Middle Tennessee
Sasha McGlothin, Middle Tennessee
Ashley Asberry, Middle Tennessee - MVP

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