Blue Raiders slay Jayhawks in 3-1 victory

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee took a decisive 3-1 (25-16, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18) win over Kansas on Friday night to open the 2009 campaign.

Senior Ashley Mead led the attack throughout the night wrapping up the match with 14 kills. Mead also had an attack percentage of .333 as the team ended with .267 and 51 total kills.

"I would give our performance tonight a B. Kansas plays in the Big 12 which is one of the best conferences in the country and they were not going to lay down so we really had to stay on top of our game," head coach Matt Peck said.

Junior Izabela Kozon led the team with 15 total kills and had a solo block and block assist on the defensive side.

Sophomores Stacy Oladinni and Lindsey Cheatham guided the Middle Tennessee block throughout the night. Oladinni had three solo blocks and two block assists while Cheatham had three assists and one solo block.

In the first set, the Blue Raiders led 16-7 after a block by Oladinni and senior Janay Yancey. The block came right after a solo block by Oladinni give Middle Tennessee one of its largest leads of the night.

Kansas hit just .082 for the match with 41 kills. The Jawhawks had just six team blocks in the match compared to Middle Tennessee who had 11.

The Blue Raiders will be back in action on Saturday, Aug. 29 at 1 p.m. when it faces Murray State and will wrap-up the tournament with Xavier at 7:30 p.m.

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