Blue Raiders Defeat Arkansas State 3-1

JONESBORO, Ark. - Middle Tennessee volleyball (16-2, 2-1) continued its winning ways with a 3-1 victory (30-19, 30-15, 32-30, 30-25) over Arkansas State (6-9, 1-1) Friday at the Convocation Center.

With 16 wins, the Blue Raiders are just one victory shy of equaling their win total from last season. Middle Tennessee ends the month of September with a record of 13-1.

The Blue Raiders sailed through the first two game of the match, holding Arkansas State to just 19 and 15 points respectively. Arkansas State had an anemic attack percentage in games one and two as the Indians could only produce .034 in the first game and -.068 in the second game.

Middle Tennessee looked to sail through game three for the match win, but Arkansas State wouldn't go quietly into the good night. The Blue Raiders were up 24-20 in game three when ASU launched a comeback. The two teams traded leads until the match was tied at 30. Consecutive attack errors by Middle Tennessee assured the Indians a win in game three.

Arkansas State couldn't force a game five as Middle Tennessee took game four 30-25.

Junior Andressa Lyra continued her solid play as she led all scorers with 22 kills and also had 14 digs. In total, Middle Tennessee had four players who registered double figure kills in the match. Victoria Monasterolo had 18 kills while Ashley Adams and Quanshell Scott had 11 and 12 kills each. Libero Alicia Lemau'u added 27 digs.

Middle Tennessee ends its Sun Belt road swing on Sunday at 1 p.m. when the Blue Raiders face Arkansas-Little Rock.

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