Women's Volleyball Closes Out 2000 Campaign This Weekend
11/14/2000 12:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2000
TOLEDO, OH - The University of Toledo women's volleyball program (7-19, 4-12 MAC) plays its final two matches of the 2000 campaign this weekend.
The Rockets will travel to Kent State (12-14, 9-7 MAC) on Friday, Nov. 17 before returning home to battle Central Michigan (14-14, 8-8 MAC) in Savage Hall on Saturday, Nov. 18. The Golden Flashes and Chippewas have both already qualified for a berth in this year's MAC Tournament. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK'S ACTION
The Rockets opened last week's play on Tuesday with a 3-0 (15-11, 15-7, 15-11) setback in a non-conference matchup at Cleveland State (11-14, 0-10 MCC).
Sophomore Heidi Neumeister and junior Lindsey Kretzmann paced the Rockets' offensive attack with 10 kills apiece, while sophomore Bitsy Mayhle led the defense with 12 digs.
On Friday, Toledo threw a bit of a scare into Western Michigan but still came up on the short end of a 3-1 (15-8, 15-10, 10-15, 15-10) decision at Savage Hall.
Toledo utilized a balanced attack with four players registering double figures in kills. Sophomore Bitsy Mayhle led the way with 12 kills, while sophomore Heidi Neumeister and junior Lindsey Kretzmann added 11 kills apiece followed by sophomore Jessica Buck with 10.
After falling in the first two games, the Rockets came out and recorded a 15-10 victory in the third game and started the fourth game on fire. Toledo jumped out to a 5-0 lead until WMU went on a scoring run of its own to regain the lead at 6-5. The two teams then traded points until the Broncos reeled off three straight points to take a 12-9 advantage.
On Saturday, the Rockets dropped a 3-0 (15-7, 15-4, 15-9) decision to Northern Illinois at Savage Hall.
After the teams exchanged nine sideouts to open the match, the Rockets surged to a 5-1 advantage. But the Huskies then seized control of Game One by scoring the game's next 11 points to take a 12-5 lead. NIU carried that momentum over to the remainder of the match en route to its three-game sweep.
Sophomore Bitsy Mayhle led the way for the Rockets offensively with 12 kills, while junior Theresa Estes and redshirt freshman Carrie McCaw shared the team lead with seven digs apiece. Sophomore Jessica Buck led the Rockets in blocks with four.
HEAD COACH KENT MILLER
Head Coach Kent Miller is in his fourth season and possesses a 35-82 (.299) win-loss ledger as the Rockets' mentor. An assistant coach with the USA Women's Olympic Volleyball Team for 10 years (1987-1996), he guided the Rockets to their most wins (17) in 14 years in his first season at UT in 1997.
ROCKETS SIGN RECRUIT IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Head Coach Kent Miller announced the signing of Rachel Mohler to a national letter of intent last week.
Mohler, a 6-0 outside hitter from Whitehouse, OH, led Anthony Wayne High School to a perfect 14-0 mark in the Northern Lakes League this year and an appearance in the district finals. In addition to receiving her team's MVP and Outstanding Offensive Player award, she earned first-team all-league and all-district honors along with third-team Division I all-state laurels.
With no seniors on this year's roster, Mohler will give the Rockets six Toledo-area players next year.
ROCKETS IN THE MAC RANKINGS
* Sophomore Bitsy Mayhle ranks 14th and 15th in the MAC in digs (3.02) and kills (3.36) per game, respectively. In conference matches, she is 11th in digs (3.21) per game.
* Theresa Estes ranks eighth and ninth in service aces in MAC (0.33) and overall (0.33) matches, respectively.
