MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee battled with Arkansas-Little Rock but managed to pull out the match in straight sets 3-0 (28-26, 25-16, 27-25).
The Blue Raiders (11-7, 4-1) notched 47 kills in the match for a .271 attack percentage while UALR had just 35 kills for a.164 attack percentage.
Junior Izabela Kozon, who joined the 1,000 kill club, knocked down 18 kills in the match for a .444 hitting percentage. Senior Ashley Mead added to the Blue Raider arsenal with 12 kills of her own.
Senior Ashley Waugh guided the backcourt defense with 18 digs while senior Leslie Clark had 11 and sophomore Brynne Henderson notched 10.
As a team, the Blue Raiders had 7.5 blocks while UALR ahd five total blocks with senior Janay Yancey and junior Alyssa Wistrick each having three block assists.
Clark also guided the offense with 39 assists on the day.
Middle Tennessee and the Trojans battled back and forth throughout the first set before the Blue Raiders pulled it out after playing extra points. Kozon hit the 1,000 kill mark for her career midway through the set and ended it with seven kills. Clark also hit a milestone midway through the first set as she notched 5,000 assists. Clark is the only player in Blue Raider history to have 5,000 assists in a career.
The Blue Raiders took control of the second set and while UALR pulled into within a few points it never got the upper hand. At the set break, Middle Tennessee had 31 kills with a .307 attack percentage while the Trojans were hitting just .150 with 23 kills.
Kozon had 12 kills at the break with just two errors posting a .345 hitting percentage. Waugh and Henderson were each performing well in the backcourt with 11 and 10 digs respectively.
Middle Tennessee will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 16 when it plays host to North Texas at 7 p.m. Then on Sunday, Oct. 18 the Blue Raiders will face one of the top teams in the Sun Belt West Division Denver at 1 p.m.
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