Blue Raiders open 2024 Season in Montana - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics (2024)

Bozeman, Mont.— The Middle Tennessee volleyball team will begin its 2024 season with matches vs. Washington and Montana in Bozeman, Mont. The Blue Raiders will face Washington at 4:30 CT on Saturday, Aug. 31. On Sunday, Sep. 1, MTSU will take on Montana State at 4:00 p.m. CT.

The Blue Raiders are coming off a successful 2023 campaign, finishing the season with a record of 20-10 and 11-5 in CUSA play. The season was highlighted by a victory over No. 25 Auburn on Sep. 7. MTSU finished first in Conference USA in assists/set with 12.69. The Blue Raiders have three starters returning from last season's roster. Among the returners is CUSA Preseason All-Conference and 2023 First Team All-Conference member Adriana Rhoda, Second Team All-Conference member Laure Jansen, and sophom*ore Allyson Eckel.

This year will mark the first season for Washington playing in the Big Ten Conference and the second under Head Coach Leslie Gabriel. Last season, the Huskies finished with a winning record of 16-15 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.

The Huskies graduated four from the 2023 squad but brought in six new players this season, increasing the roster size to 15. The six newcomers are split between three transfers, and three freshmen.

The transfers are Kiune Fletcher, a senior outside hitter from South Carolina, Sophie Tulino, a senior outside hitter from Santa Clara, and Zoria Heard, a junior libero from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Both Fletcher and Tulino led their squads in kills a year ago, adding major depth to the outside hitter spot. Heard has over 500 career digs through two seasons as a DS and libero.

The freshmen include outside hitter Addy Benefield, setter Alexis Haury, and middle blocker Julia Hunt. Benefield grew up in Vancouver, B.C. but then the family moved to Redondo Beach, Calif. She helped Redondo Union reach state in 2022 and 2023 and is only just starting to tap into her potential. Haury was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Oregon and the No. 9 recruit in the nation according to PrepDig and the No. 4 setter. Hunt was Gatorade Player of the Year out of Kentucky and an AVCA First Team All-American, ranked 11th nationally by PrepDig.

This is only the third meeting between MTSU and Washington. The first two meetings were played in the years 2003 and 2009, with the Huskies winning both matchups. The match will not be streamed.

Scouting the Montana State Bobcats
The Bobcats were 24-9 last year including an impressive 12-1 at home and 12-4 in Big Sky matches. They lost a five-setter in the Big Sky tourney final, one set short of NCAA tourney qualification. MSU went on to play in the NIVC tournament, beating Pacific, Sacramento State, and Wyoming before falling to Wichita State in the semifinals.

MSU was voted second in the Big Sky Preseason Poll this year. Second-year head coach Matt Houk welcomes back nine letterwinners, including five starters, that led the Bobcats to their best season in school history last fall. Houk's team ranked among the top 25 in the nation in total attacks (4,613), team kills (1,685), team service aces (220), and team assists (1,546). Off the court, he saw ten Bobcats earn Big Sky Conference All-Academic mention.

MSU finished second in the Big Sky standings, its highest showing ever. MSU entered the Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed and dispatched Montana in straight sets. The Cats downed Eastern Washington 3-1 in semifinal action to set up MSU's first ever appearance in a Big Sky title match.

This will be just the second meeting between MTSU and Montana State with the Blue Raiders winning 3-0 on Aug. 24, 2007. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.

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