MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Ahead of an exciting week of basketball in the Rocket City, your Blue Raiders took home a plethora of All-CUSA Honors from the 2024-25 postseason awards, released by the Conference USA office on Monday.
 
Following a third-consecutive regular season title for Middle Tennessee women's basketball, center Anastasiia Boldyreva was tabbed CUSA Defensive Player of the Year, while a trio of Blue Raiders (Boldyreva, Ta'Mia Scott and Jalynn Gregory) earned All-Conference honors and Head Coach Rick Insell was named Coach of the Year.
    
On the heels of the 16th 20-win season in MTSU Men's Basketball history, four Blue Raiders have earned Conference USA post-season honors. Essam Mostafa led the way, being named Newcomer of the Year and All-CUSA First Team. Torey Alston picked up CUSA All-Freshman team honors, while Jestin Porter was named to the Second Team for the second-consecutive season and Camryn Weston was voted All-CUSA Honorable Mention.
    
The women's team will tipoff the CUSA Tournament as the No. 2 seed on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, Ala. They'll face the winner of Tuesday's game between No. 7 seed Kennesaw State and No. 10 seed UTEP. The No. 3 seed men's team will start the CUSA Tournament on Thursday night, taking on No. 6 seed LA Tech at 8 p.m.
 
Join the BRAA in Huntsville for a Blue Raider fan event!
 
Thanks to your tremendous support, MTSU has sold out of its all-session ticket allotment for the CUSA Basketball Championships in Huntsville! Single session tickets are still available from Ticketmaster at the following link: https://www.ticketmaster.com/cusa-basketball-championships-tickets/artist/1958996
 
Fans in attendance on Wednesday are invited to a BRAA event at Rhythm on Monroe, but the event requires an RSVP and fee to attend! Follow this link (bit.ly/4bz27UQ) for more information and check out the Saturday Bus availability as well (bit.ly/3QRNx1b), in the event MTSU makes the Championship game on Saturday!
 
Drew Horn tosses a no-hitter to help MTSU sweep Oakland in baseball
 
Drew Horn earned Conference USA Pitcher of the Week after tossing MTSU's fifth ever no-hitter on Sunday, March 9 against Oakland.
  
Drew Horn went the distance against the Golden Grizzlies', tossing nine innings of no-hit ball with just two walks on the afternoon. He tallied 13 strikeouts, six of which were looking on 110 pitches for a career high in Ks.
  
Eston Snider made a diving catch for the final out in the top of the ninth, tracking a blooper into shallow center field and going full extension to secure the no-hitter for his pitcher.
 
https://x.com/sjdoughton/status/1899164100736794949
 
The Blue Raiders won all three games against Oakland this weekend to improve to 9-5 on the year with four home games ahead this week!
 
ICMYI: Keckler named Volleyball Head Coach
 
Alexa Keckler, a veteran with 20 years of collegiate head coaching experience, will be Middle Tennessee's new women's volleyball coach as announced by Director of Athletics Chris Massaro on Friday. Keckler becomes the 13th head coach in MTSU volleyball history.
 
"Alexa quickly rose through the interview process, and the committee was very impressed with her and her accomplishments at Lehigh," said Massaro. "Her maturity as a head coach was evident. Given the status of our program, she fits our needs extremely well, and we look forward to working with her for a long time."
  
Keckler comes to MTSU following seven years as the head coach at Lehigh, where she led the program to a 16-13 record in 2024 and a trip to the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh upset No. 3 seed American in the quarterfinals for their first postseason win since 2014.
 
"I am incredibly excited and grateful to accept the position of head volleyball coach at MTSU," said Keckler. "Chris (Massaro) and the entire search committee have been so wonderful throughout this process, and with each step, I could see how much our values align for MTSU volleyball. I look forward to joining the Blue Raider community and achieving great success together!"
  
Softball returns home to for CUSA Home Opener, Baseball hosts UAB in final non-conference weekend tune-up
 
If you can't make it to Huntsville to cheer on the Blue Raiders in the CUSA Tournament, there's plenty of games to watch right here on campus! Check out What's Happening in the Boro this week below!
  
ICYMI: Massaro named to CFB Playoff Selection Committee
 
Middle Tennessee Director of Athletics Chris Massaro has been appointed to the College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee by the CFP Management Committee, CFP Executive Director Rich Clark announced on Tuesday.
 
Massaro will serve on the prestigious 13-person selection committee for the next three football seasons. Baylor Athletics Director Mack Rhoades will serve as selection committee chair for the 2025 season.
 
"It is an incredible honor to be selected for the College Football Playoff Selection Committee," added Massaro. "I look forward to contributing to the important work of evaluating the best teams in the nation and working with some extremely talented individuals. College football continues to grow and evolve, and I'm excited to be a small part of the process that helps shape its future."
 
Massaro was one of five new members appointed to the CFP Selection Committee. Mark Dantonio, former head coach at the University of Cincinnati and Michigan State University; Damon Evans, athletics director at the University of Maryland; Ivan Maisel, former sportswriter for The Atlanta Constitution, Sports Illustrated, the Dallas Morning News, Newsday, ESPN and On3; and Wesley Walls, former All-American tight end from Ole Miss, were also appointed to serve on the committee beginning in the 2025 season. The new members will begin three-year terms starting this spring. They will replace Chet Gladchek, Jim Grobe, Ward Manuel, Will Shields and Kelly Whiteside, whose terms have expired.
 
"The additions of Mark, Damon, Ivan, Chris and Wesley will bring some great new voices to the selection committee as we enter our 12th season," Clark said. "Each of them has tremendous knowledge, passion and dedication to college football, along with outstanding character and integrity.  Their skills and wide variety of experiences—from coaches and athletes to university leaders and journalists—will ensure that they will transition in with our returning members successfully. We also appreciate Steve returning for the upcoming season. His understanding and wisdom from his previous term will be a real benefit to the group."