MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Blue Raider volleyball team continued its losing streak Sunday afternoon, dropping their matchup against Marshall three sets to one.
Middle Tennessee (7-19, 3-9 C-USA) has now lost four-straight contests, and have lost eight out of the last nine meetings.
Junior Chelsea Ross continued her string of recent success, posting her 13th double-double of the year with 22 kills and 14 digs.
It was Ross’ third straight game with a double-double, and sixth game of the season in which she has posted at least 20 kills and 10 digs.
MTSU got out to a quick 10-5 lead in the first set against the Thundering Herd (13-14, 7-5 C-USA).
The Blue Raiders maintained that lead until Marshall made a comeback to tie the set at 20-20.
Freshman Haley Morton set up a Monet Marshall kill that triggered a 5-2 run by the Blue Raiders, sealing a 25-22 first-set victory.
The next set proved to be dictated by runs on both squads. The Blue Raiders jumped out to a 12-9 lead, off a 3-0 run that was capped off by two kills by Ross.
Marshall would utilize a small run of their own to tie the second set at 13-13. Following a trade-off of scoring, the Thundering Herd would outscore MTSU 6-3 while deadlocked at a 19-19 tie, taking the second set at 25-22.
The Blue Raiders held another early advantage in the third set before the Herd came back to tie the matchup at 19-all.
Marshall duplicated their performance in the second set, using a 6-1 run to polish off a 25-20 victory in the third set.
Headed into a potentially deciding fourth set with Marshall leading 2-1, the Herd switched it up and got out to an early 10-3 lead in the fourth set over the Blue Raiders.
MTSU proved to be stagnant throughout the fourth set, trailing by a 22-11 margin late in the fourth stanza.
Middle Tennessee would attempt a late rally, going on a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to 24-17. It would prove to be too late for the Blue Raiders though, dropping the set at 25-17, and match at 3-1.
The schedule lightens up for Middle Tennessee, with three out of the last four games coming against teams that rank in the bottom five in the C-USA standings.
The main focus for the Blue Raiders will be to halt their current losing streak and to finish the season strong, and will look to do so as they travel to take on Louisiana Tech Nov. 7.
Following that matchup, MTSU will return to Alumni Memorial Gym to host UAB Nov. 9 on Senior Day.
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