TOLEDO, OH - Toledo continued its push toward earning a home match in the first round of the 2008 Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-13) triumph over Buffalo on Saturday afternoon at St. Ursula Academy. The victory improved the Rockets' record to 13-14 overall and 5-9 in MAC play and puts them in sole possession of the No. 8 seed for the conference tournament. The Bulls' record dropped to 6-22 overall and 1-13 in the MAC.
The Rockets utilized strong serving and a balanced offensive attack to take control of the match after dropping the first set by a 25-22 margin. UT tallied a season-high 19 service aces to equal the third most in a match in school history in addition to posting a .318 team attack percentage.
“We were certainly disappointed letting the first set slip away but I was encouraged with how we responded to that,” said Toledo Head Coach Kent Miller of his team letting a 22-20 lead evaporate in the first set. “We came back and played solid in the second set though and closed out the match by controlling the third and fourth sets.”
Freshman OH Amber Deweerdt led Toledo with 14 kills to go along with a .379 attack percentage, while senior RSH Shannon Strachan posted a career-high six aces as well as 13 kills and a .360 hitting mark. Junior middle blockers Lyndsey Holt (4-0-6) and Sarah Wilson (7-1-13) also were efficient for UT with .667 and .462 ATK%, respectively.
Holt spearheaded the Rockets' defensive efforts with a team-high five blocks, while senior libero Lori Ruth tallied a match-high 13 digs.
In addition to Strachan's six aces, freshman S Kassie Kadera tallied five and DeWeerdt notched three with freshman RSH Cassie Kleespies and Ruth collecting two apiece.
“We've typically been a good serving team and that paid off for us today,” Miller said. “It allowed us to block better late in the match and helped us keep control.”
Marisa Mezzadri led Buffalo's offense with nine kills as UT limited the Bulls to a .175 team hitting mark.
Toledo will close out its regular season next weekend with a pair of home contests. The Rockets host Northern Illinois on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and MAC West Division leader Western Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 3:00 p.m.
