Box Score
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Despite a furious fourth-set comeback and another rally in the fifth, the University of San Francisco dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Middle Tennessee to start the 2013 season at Alumni Memorial Gym.
USF was led by 17 kills and a team-high .441 attack percentage from senior
Malina Terrell.
Anja Segota contributed 14 kills for the Dons, and
Valentina Zaloznik, a junior from Ljubo ob Savinji, Slovenia, added eight kills, a match-high four service aces and assisted on three blocks. Â Senior
Rebecca Kopilovitch dug out a team-high 18 balls, but the Blue Raiders held a 64-41 team advantage in digs.
The Dons took the first set 25-18, starting the season with an accurate .364 attack percentage to jump on top of the Blue Raiders. USF led the set from the get-go, getting on the board first in the season when freshman
Katarina Pilepic notched her first career kill off an assist from senior
Mackenzie Murtagh.
Middle Tennessee tied it up in the second, taking the frame 25-19 and edged into the lead after the Blue Raiders won the third 25-20. But USF was ready to rally in the fourth. USF evened the match with a 25-18 win after leading the set wire-to-wire. The biggest lead for the Dons came when
Sara Staengle pounded a kill to make the score 20-12 and cap off a four-point run with Murtagh at the serve.
The Dons struck first in the fifth and final set before allowing Middle Tennessee to build a lead off the momentum of a 10-2 run. USF scrapped back with some gutsy play to tie the set at 14-14 when Pilepic, assisted by fellow freshman
Kiara McKibben, knotted the score. However, the Blue Raiders were able to take the last two points in the match to finish the decisive set with a score of 16-14.
The Dons close out the Blue Raider Bash with two matches Saturday in Murphreesboro, Tenn., taking on North Carolina at 11:30 a.m. PT and Notre Dame at 3 p.m. PT. Follow the action live at www.GoBlueRaiders.com/gamecentral.
