MT Prepared for Virginia Tech, Blue Raider Bash

Thursday, September 11

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

6:00 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

2-6

Virginia Tech

3-4

Virginia Tech

Middle Tennessee

9/10/2014 6:59:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score 3

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - After playing six of its first seven games on the road, the Middle Tennessee volleyball team (2-5) will return to Alumni Memorial Gym Thursday evening against Virginia Tech at 6 p.m., before hosting its annual Blue Raider Bash against No. 12 Illinois (5 p.m.) and Belmont (5 p.m.).

Weekend Schedule
Friday, September 12
Belmonts vs. Virginia Tech – 12 p.m.
Live Stats

No. 12 Illinois vs. Middle Tennessee – 5 p.m.
Live Stats | Live Video

Virginia Tech vs. Washington State – 7:30 p.m.
Live Stats

Saturday, September 13
Belmont vs. Washington State – 10 a.m.
Live Stats

Virginia Tech vs. No 12 Illinois – 12:30 p.m.
Live Stats

Belmont vs. Middle Tennessee – 5:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Live Video

Washington State vs. Illinois – 7:30 p.m.
Live Stats

ABOUT THE BLUE RAIDERS

Last Time Out
The Blue Raiders finished 1-2 last weekend at the Varney's Invitational that included three very tough teams in UCF, Kansas State and Arkansas. MT came back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Arkansas in an exciting five-set victory. Chelsea Ross was named to the All-Tournament team after leading the team with a season-high 19 kills and 13 digs for her second double-double of the tournament.

Five-Set Fighters
Both of the Blue Raiders' victories this season have come in five sets as MT defeated Bowling Green at the Hampton Inn Invitational during the first weekend of the season before handing Arkansas its third-straight loss of the year on Saturday.

Marshall Stepping up
Over the past three contests, Monét Marshall has stepped her play up averaging just over 10 kills and four blocks per game. She amassed 24 of her 31 total kills this weekend and played a pivotal role in the Blue Raiders' win over Arkansas as she finished with 10 kills, eight blocks, equaling a season-high 15.5 points to go along with a season-best .421 hitting percentage.

Setting up Others
Freshmen Brianna Pannone and Haley Morton are leading the team with 125 and 79 assists, respectively, while Pannone is averaging a team-best 4.63 assists per set and Morton is second at 3.76.The teammates each set career-highs in assists on Saturday against Arkansas as Pannone paced the team with 28 and Morton eclipsed the 20-assist mark with 21.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS

SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH ( 2-4, 0-0 ACC)
The Hokies are 2-4 on the year while recently finishing 1-2 at the Ohio Invitational where they defeated VCU in three sets. Virginia Tech returns five starters from last season , including All-ACC Preseason team member Kathryn Caine. Six players have at least 40 or more kills for the Hokies while Lindsey Owens leads the team with 70, and paces the team with 3.75 kills per set. Teammate Jordan Fish has tallied a team-high 127 assists through the first six contests while Ashley Battle leads the way in the block category with 18 swats.

SCOUTING No. 12 ILLINOIS (3-2, 0-0 Big Ten)
The 12th-ranked Fighting Illini boast a 3-2 record after finishing 0-2 at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge where they lost in a closely contested five-set match to then-No. 2 Stanford. Illinois defeated then-No. 20 North Carolina earlier this season while sweeping the Illini Classic. Jocelynn Birks leads the team with 57 kills while teammate Liz McMahon is right behind with 56 kills, and Allison Palmer paces Illinois with 93 assists. Illiniois is led by Anna Dorn defensively with 22 blocks and Brandi Donnelly is leading the way with 77 digs.

SCOUTING BELMONT (2-5, 0-0 OVC)
The Bruins improved their record to 2-5 with a straight-set victory over UT-Chattanooga on Saturday. Belmont is led by the duo of Scarlet Gable and Arianna Person as each lead the team with 62 and 59 kills, respectively. Emma Price has notched 193 assists thus far with an impressive 9.19 assists per set while Ellie Ivancich has a team-best 82 digs, and teammate Jocelyn Youngdahl paces the Bruins with 17 blocks.

All-Time vs. the Field
The Blue Raiders have a combined record of 5-4 all-time against this weekend's opponents while all five wins have came against Belmont. MT and VT last met on Sept. 1, 2012 with the Hokies winning in four sets and Illinois has won both matches against MT with the Fighting Illini topping the Blue Raiders in three sets in their last match on Sept. 9, 2011.

NEXT UP: SETON HALL CLASSIC

The Blue Raiders will play in their final round-robin tournament before conference play begin as they make the trip to South Orange, NJ, for the Seton Hall Classic. MT will play Dartmouth, Fordham and Seton Hall.