Story by Keenan Taylor // Contributing Writer | Photo by Craig Bisacre / UT Athletics
Middle Tennessee volleyball marched to Richmond, Virginia, this weekend to take part in the Virginia Commonwealth University Invitational. The Blue Raiders challenged Morgan State, VCU and Liberty University but were only able to come home with one victory.
Middle Tennessee (3-8) – 3
Morgan State (0-12) – 1
The Blue Raiders faced the Morgan State Bears to kick off the round-robin tournament, whom they beat handily. The Blue Raiders took the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-13, respectively. The Bears would surge back and take the third set 25-23, but Middle Tennessee answered, taking the fourth set 26-24 and winning the match 3-1. Freshman Dora Peonia finished with a career-high 15 kills. Regan Coughlin added eight kills with 18 digs.
Virginia Commonwealth (6-6) – 3
Middle Tennessee (3-9) – 0
The Blue Raiders took on the host, VCU, in their second game of the invitational. After coming off a win earlier in the day, MTSU would fall to the Rams in three straight sets, 25-20, 25-19 and 28-26.
Liberty (5-6) – 3
Middle Tennessee (3-10) – 0
MTSU would seek to come away with a winning record under their belt, but the Liberty Flames thought otherwise. The Blue Raiders would ultimately lose in three straight sets — 25-23, 25-18 and 25-23 — to end the tournament.
With a 1-2 record in the VCU Invitational, the Blue Raiders now drop to 3-10 on the season. MTSU looks to open up conference play next Friday when they travel to UAB to take take on the Blazers (7-8).
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