Blue Raiders travel to Louisiana for match Saturday afternoon

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Middle Tennessee volleyball team starts a stretch of four of the next five matches on the road Saturday afternoon with a 3 p.m. match at Louisiana. The Blue Raiders have beaten the Ragin' Cajuns in each of the last six meetings, including a 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-17) win last season in Lafayette, La.

Freshman outside hitter Chelsea Ross is among Middle Tennessee's top-three players in three different statistical categories. Ross leads the team with 3.76 kills per set and 14 service aces. She is second in the Sun Belt in kills per set and among the top-100 in the nation. She is also second on the team in digs per set and third in blocks per set. Both Ross and freshman libero Bri McCombs have played in every set this season.

Louisiana, picked to finish fourth in the west division of the Sun Belt in the preseason, enter this week with a 9-8 record. The Ragin' Cajuns split their first two conference matches last week, winning 3-0 at ULM before a 3-2 loss at North Texas. Four Louisiana players average at least two kills per set, led by Lavinia Tataran's 2.48 kills per set. Blair Claypoole is seventh in the Sun Belt with a .321 hitting percentage. 

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