Volleyball wins over South Alabama, 3-1

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Izabela Kozon started off her senior weekend in impressive fashion, leading the Middle Tennessee volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 25-10) victory over South Alabama on Friday night at Alumni Memorial Gym.

"I think we were in another situation today where Izabela won us a match when we weren't playing our best," head coach Matt Peck said. "We haven't been consistent in the last two matches, but I think we turned it around a bit at the end tonight. We have to play lights out tomorrow, and get ready for next week at Western and the conference tournament."

Kozon, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week, hit .500 en route to 18 kills to post the match high. Stacy Oladinni also reached double figures in kills for the Blue Raiders with 10 on just 11 attacks. Maria Szivos and Ashley Adams notched nine and eight kills, respectively.

Angela Peyton was responsible for directing a Middle Tennessee offense that outhit the Jaguars .380 to .188. The freshman put up a team-high 37 assists.

Defensively, the Blue Raiders tallied 11.0 blocks to South Alabama's 5.0. Sasha McGlothin notched the team high with seven, and Kozon was second with four.

Brynne Henderson recorded a match high 18 digs, and Kendall Howard had 11.

Middle Tennessee hit .480 on the way to a 25-19 opening set victory. After swapping leads for much of the early goings, the Blue Raiders recorded six of seven points to turn an 11-12 deficit into a 17-13 advantage, and USA wouldn't get any closer than three down the stretch.

South Alabama won the second set 25-19. It was a back and forth affair, but the Jaguars ran off the final five points to send the match into the break tied at 1-1.

The Blue Raiders grabbed an early 6-1 lead, and would never trail to take home the third set 25-20. USA cut the deficit to one on three occasions, including at 15-14, but MT responded by running off four consecutive points to put it out of reach for the Jaguars. Oladinni led the team in the frame, tallying five kills on six attacks.

Middle Tennessee sealed the deal in runaway fashion, winning the fourth set 25-10 and outhitting South Alabama .667 to .037. Kozon starred in the frame with six kills on just seven attempts.

Middle Tennessee (23-5, 13-1 SBC) will now prepare for Senior Night tomorrow evening against Troy at 7 PM at Alumni Memorial Gym. Prior to the match, the Blue Raiders will hold a ceremony to honor seniors Kozon and McGlothin.

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