KENT, OH - Following a tough 3-1 loss at MAC East Division leader Ohio on Friday night, Toledo responded with a hard-fourth 3-2 (14-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-21, 16-14) triumph on Saturday evening over Kent State. The victory improved the Rockets' record to 12-8 overall and 3-5 in conference play, while the Golden Flashes fell to 11-11 overall and 4-4 in MAC action.

Sophomore OH Amber DeWeerdt and freshman OH Sondra Parys led UT's attack with 19 and 16 kills, respectively. The Golden Flashes limited the Rockets to a .135 team attack mark thanks to 14.5 blocks, but Toledo overcame that with some gritty play at opportune times.

Senior Arjola Prenga led the Golden Flashes with 17 kills and 10 digs with sophomore Liva Brivule and freshman Meredith Paskert each adding 11 terminations.

"This was a great team win for us and everybody played with a lot of heart," Toledo Head Coach Greg Smith said. "We came out flat in the first set and that was the one thing I had told the team that we couldn't do. We responded though with some tough play and rose to the occasion when we needed to especially in the fourth and fifth sets."

The Golden Flashes came out hot in the first set and took a 5-0 lead. During the run, four different KSU players recorded kills. Toledo came within four at 6-2, but a Toledo service error, a Pakert kill, a block and a Rocket attack error pushed the KSU advantage to 10-2. The lead ballooned to 11 at 23-12 and the teams exchanged points the rest of the set.

Kent State hit a blistering .412 in the first set (17 kills and three errors on 34 attempts) while holding Toledo to .161 (nine kills, four errors on 31 attacks).

In set two, the teams went back and forth until Toledo took a 19-17 lead thanks to three-straight points on two kills from senior MB Sarah Wilson and a KSU attack error. Toledo never trailed the rest of the set and tied the match.

In set three, Kent State outhit Toledo .333 (10 kills, two errors on 24 attempts) to .000 (nine kills, nine errors on 33 attempts). Toledo led 10-9 before a 6-0 KSU run put the Flashes up for good in the set. After a Toledo service error tied the game, a KSU kill and a Toledo attack error forced a Rocket timeout. A pair of blocks by Kent State and an ace by junior Lauren Jones gave KSU a five-point cushion. The home team closed out the set on a Paskert kill and another ace by Jones.

Toledo jumped out to a 4-0 lead in set four and Kent State played catch up the entire way. KSU finally caught Toledo at 20-20 with a pair of Prenga kills, but Toledo answered with a 5-1 run thanks to three kills from Parys and one from DeWeerdt to end the set and tie the match again.

In the fifth and deciding set, it looked as if the Rockets might run away with it as they jumped up 7-3, but a pair of Kent State kills and Toledo attack errors evened the match at seven. Toledo fought back for a 12-9 lead, but Kent State answered with four points of its own to take a 13-12 advantage. A service error tied the fifth set at 13 before both teams committed attack errors on the next two points. Parys and  DeWeerdt then ended the match with back-to-back kills

Toledo returns home next weekend for a pair of conference matches. The Rockets host Miami on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7:00 p.m. as part of their 'Dig Pink' promotion followed by a meeting with arch-rival Bowling Green on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 3:00 p.m.