JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State volleyball could not slow down Middle Tennessee's offense in Friday's Conference USA setback at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The Gamecocks dropped their fourth consecutive contest in the Dig Orange match, falling in three sets to the visiting Blue Raiders. 
 
"(MTSU head coach) Chuck (Crawford) has done an amazing job at Middle Tennessee with how hard they compete," head coach Derek Schroeder said. "Yes, they're big and physical, but they compete. There was one point in the second set where they were beating us by six and won a crazy broken play. Their whole team exploded in competitiveness. That tells you they're a team that's on the rails and going in the right direction."
 
The two squads fought in a tight opening set at The Pete. Jax State (5-18, 3-10) led for much of the frame after a 5-1 scoring run midway through the set, but Middle Tennessee (19-6, 10-3) claimed a 25-23 win after taking the final three points. The Blue Raider offense cruised in the second, hitting .625 as a team and powering to a 25-13 difference, and 21 kills in the third set clinched the match with a 25-19 victory. 
 
Ellie Garrett finished with a team-high six kills and added 18 assists and five digs. Kaylee Moseley had six kills and two blocks while Hana Aiana ended up with five kills on a .500 clip. Selin Sakiroglu tallied her first career start and set a new career-best with four kills in the loss. Garrett's five digs were the most by any Gamecock. 
 
MTSU hit an incredible .452 as a team in Friday's win. They held advantages in kills (55 to 28), aces (3 to 2), assists (46 to 22), and digs (31 to 17). Jax State had four blocks to Middle Tennessee's two. 
 
"You know Middle Tennessee is going to come out and compete 100% of the time," Schroeder said. "We have to match that. We're in control of our competitive nature, so it's a non-negotiable that we compete as hard as they do."
 
Jacksonville State will celebrate seniors Carley Lynch, Stavroula Papazoglou, and Maddie Stayer during pregame of Saturday's Senior Day match. That contest versus Middle Tennessee will begin at 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Links to watch or follow along with live stats will be provided at JaxStateSports.com. In addition, score updates will be posted on Jax State Volleyball's X account (@JaxStateVB).  
 
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their X (@JaxStateVB), Instagram (@JaxStateVB), and Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball) accounts.