Middle Tennessee Volleyball Defeats Oklahoma in SMS Tourney

SPRINGFIELD, MO - Middle Tennessee (9-18) volleyball won it's opening match at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational on the campus of Southwest Missouri State University with a 30-20, 30-21, 19-30, 30-24 win over Oklahoma (2-22) Saturday in Hammons Student Center.

The Lady Raiders played inspired volleyball against the OU. Everywhere the ball was put by a Sooner a MT player was there to dig the ball or turn an attack into a kill.

It was a big win for the Lady Raiders after a poor showing against North Texas on Friday night. The team had an overall hitting percentage of .171 and had 24 errors.

"Tonight was a good recovery for the team," said Middle Tennessee Head Coach Lisa Kissee. "They played with so much more heart, and other than game three, didn't let mistakes bring us down."

Middle Tennessee was led by Shakeithia Deckard and Erin Hillstrom who each recorded double-doubles in the match as Hillstrom also broke her career record in service aces with five her previous being three. Deckard had 18 kills and 13 digs while Hillstrom registered 13 kills and 23 digs.

"Goldie (Bilyeu) made much better set selections tonight," Kissee said. "Erin's serving aggressively made the difference in game two and four."

Sunday the Lady Raiders will play two matches to close out tournament action. The Lady Raiders will play Wichita State at 12:30 p.m. and then meet host Southwest Missouri State at 7 p.m.

Middle Tennessee's match with SMS can be heard on the Southwest Missouri web site starting at 6:45 p.m. CST. A link to the site is on the front page of the goblueraider.com website. Or log onto http://thegrowl.smsu.edu

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MTAthletics for continued updates.