SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Middle Tennessee snapped its six-match losing streak with a 3-0 (25-12,25-14, 25-21) win over UT-San Antonio to end the UTSA Classic.
The Blue Raiders (6-6) took the win after staying in system and reducing the number of serving errors which were the main issues during the losing streak. As a team Middle Tennessee knocked down 40 kills with a .271 hitting percentage.
"In spite of our six match losing streak we came out and played a good team very well today. As we approach our conference season I feel we have turned the corner and I think playing a strong schedule like we have will help us in the end," head coach Matt Peck said.
Senior Ashley Mead and junior Izabela Kozon each had a team high 11 kills in the set while sophomore Stacy Oladinni added eight kills of her own.
Mead along with senior setter Leslie Clark were named to the All-Tournament team. Clark ended the match with 32 assists, four kills, two service aces and eight digs.
The Blue Raiders held UTSA (4-9) to just 21 kills with a .024 hitting percentage in the match. No Roadrunner had double-digit kills but they did out block Middle Tennessee as a team by two.
The Blue Raiders had six team blocks with freshman Brandi Waller recording four block assists.
A kill by Mead gave the Blue Raiders an early four-point lead, 5-1, in the first set. Middle Tennessee kept the early energy going and a kill by Oladinni increased the lead to eight-points, 13-5. The Blue Raiders sealed the win after a kill by Yancey.
Mead ended the set with six kills as the team posted 13 for a .308 attack percentage. UTSA ended the first set with a hitting percentage of .097 and just seven kills.
UTSA took a timeout early in the second set after the Blue Raiders jumped out to a 9-5 lead. Middle Tennessee extended the lead to seven, 12-5, after the timeout forcing the Roadrunners to use their last timeout. UTSA had a service error on match point which handed the Blue Raiders the win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Mead led the team with eight kills after two sets while Kozon and Oladinni added six and five kills respectively. After two sets the Blue Raiders notched 25 kills for a .333 hitting percentage while holding UTSA to just 13 kills for a .020 attack percentage.
Waller led the team with three block assists while the team had five total blocks. UTSA had six total blocks with Huskey posting three block assists of her own.
The third set stayed close with UTSA taking an early two-point lead but the Blue Raiders responded quickly tying the set at seven after a block by Oladinni and Waller. The two teams continued to battle with Middle Tennessee pulling ahead by three-points, 16-13. A kill by Oladinni clinched the match for the Blue Raiders.
The Blue Raiders will be back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 22 when they face UAB in Birmingham, Ala., at 7 p.m. Middle Tennessee will then return to Alumni Memorial Gym to open Sun Belt Conference action with Western Kentucky on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.
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