MURFREESBORO, TENN. — In their first match of the Blue Raider Bash, Marist volleyball got overpowered by Middle Tennessee State University, who won in straight sets.
Friday night’s match marked the home opener for the Blue Raiders, the host of the weekend tournament. Fans filled the home gym, as well as their pep band and cheerleaders, creating a big-match atmosphere.
“I told the kids, that’s why we come to matches like this, so we can play with a band, fans and good energy,” said head coach Sean Byron. “We didn’t handle the environment well at all.”
Middle Tennessee’s offense picked apart Marist’s block and back row. The home team landed 37 kills on 83 swings, finishing with an impressive .289 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Michaela Dlouhá put together a stellar performance for the Blue Raiders: six kills, a solo block, five block assists and four aces.
Marist never got it going on their side of the net; they recorded only 24 kills, while committing 21 attack errors – a rough .036 hitting percentage. No one on the Red Foxes crossed the double-digit kill threshold, as junior outside hitter Sara Dasic led the way with seven.
Marist stayed close in the first set by simply keeping the ball in play and letting the Blue Raiders get in their own way. Nine of Marist’s first 12 points came from Middle Tennessee errors.
When they kept the ball in play, the Blue Raiders’ offense powered through Marist’s block. At the 15-point media timeout, Middle Tennessee had a below-average .158 hitting percentage (which accounts for attack errors), but a dominant .474 kill percentage.
The Blue Raiders continued to tool the Marist block before fully finding their swing and pulling away; a 9-3 run got them at set point first. The Red Foxes won two points to prolong the set, but a huge block from sophomore outside hitter Aowyn Schrader and junior middle blocker Logan Carr deflected off freshman outside hitter Mallory Reck and ended the set.
Middle Tennessee picked up right where they left off to start the second; Byron’s first timeout at 8-4 did not stop their momentum, but his second timeout at 14-6 did. Marist rattled off four straight to get back into the set, highlighted by back-to-back aces from sophomore middle hitter Sarah Bumstead.
However, the smallest Marist inched the deficit was two, coming off an ace from Dasic to prompt a timeout from Blue Raiders head coach Alexa Keckler. Middle Tennessee won nine of the next 15 points, comfortably taking the set, 25-18.
Marist’s freshmen pin hitters failed to find the Middle Tennessee side of the court; Reck and freshman right side hitter Eleana Koute each had more errors than kills. As a team, the Red Foxes did not play much better – they swung for a .020 hitting percentage through the first two sets.
The third set started a lot like the second; this time, the Blue Raiders held an 11-4 lead by the time Byron used both of his timeouts. However, Marist failed to mount a run to make the set close.
Their first weekend serve receive struggles continued Friday night, especially in the third set. Middle Tennessee aced them four times, applying constant pressure from the service line.
Though ultimately in vain, Reck turned around her match in the final frame, where she swung for four kills, added an ace and only committed two errors. Relieving Koute, sophomore outside hitter Taylor Miller scored three kills herself, also putting together a solid third set.
“I thought Taylor did a good job,” said Byron. “She came in and hit the ball hard.”
The Red Foxes have the early afternoon match on Saturday, facing UT Martin at 1 p.m. (2 EST). Byron likened the level of the Skyhawks to the top MAAC opponents that Marist will face in conference play.
“That’s a winnable match, but we have to be able to perform, and we didn’t really seize the opportunity here tonight.”
Edited by Gene Barbieri
Photo and graphic by Gene Barbieri
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X and TikTok, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.
