The reeling MTSU volleyball team (7-15, 3-5 C-USA) came back from two sets down to defeat FIU (6-14, 3-4 C-USA) in an amazing 3-2 victory Friday night.
The victory marks the fifth time the Lady Raiders have won in five sets this season. It also ends the four game losing streak the team was previously on.
Three different players compiled double-digit kills. Chelsea Ross produced a game-high 28 kills with 18 digs for her tenth double-double of the season. Senior Monét Marshall amassed 13 kills while sophomore Miri Shade chipped in with 10 kills to round out the leaders.
Haley Morton recorded her fourth double-double of the year with 24 assists and 11 digs and Bridget Keller came up big with two big aces in the fifth set, while senior Ailime de Frietas also played well with dishing out 28 assists.
FIU raced out to a 9-3 lead in the first set; the Blue Raiders charged back cutting the lead to four 13-9, courtesy of two kills by Ross and an ace from Marshall.
The Panthers would maintain their advantage winning the set 25-18.
The second game was a see saw battle with 13 ties and four lead changes. A 6-1 FIU run down the stretch gave FIU a 25-19 win and a 2-0 advantage heading into the third set.
The Lady Raiders hit the ground running with an 11-3 lead in the third set after capitalizing on five FIU attack errors, two kills from Shade, a kill by Maya Miller, and two kills from Ross.
FIU tied the match 19-19, but MTSU closed out the game on a 6-2 run to win the third set 25-21.
The Blue Raiders maintained their aggression and tallied a swift 6-1 lead. They lead by as much as nine (18-9) and forced a deciding fifth set courtesy of two kills by Marshall and a kill from Ross to knot the match 2-2.
The Blue Raiders were down 9-6 in the fifth set, however they finished the match on a 9-0 run to win the fifth set 15-9. De Frietas assisted Ross for two kills and Keller chipped in off the bench with two aces, most notably the clincher to win the game.
“A week ago, we would have lost this match in three, but our team really matured today, even when we were down in the final set” said Head coach Matt Peck. ” It was ironic that Bridget Keller came from FIU and stepped up with those two big aces.”
The Lady Raiders hope to build off this much needed win heading into battle with Florida Atlantic this Sunday.
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