TOLEDO, OH - A balanced offense was key for Toledo (2-0) on Saturday morning in the Rockets' 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-14) triumph over Binghamton in the Rocket Classic. UT will face No. 12 Michigan (2-0) in the tournament's championship match in Savage Arena tonight at 7:00 p.m. as both teams are both undefeated.
Junior OH Amber DeWeerdt paced Toledo's attack with nine kills with freshman OH Becca Reidy collecting seven kills. Freshman OH Lauren Rafdal and sophomore MB Bethany Irwin each recorded six kills with sophomore MB Bailey Blank notching five terminations.
Junior S Kassie Kadera dished out 31 assists to help the Rockets post a .257 attack mark, while senior libero Katie Westerfeld tallied a match-best 16 digs.
Michele McDonough topped the Bearcats offensively with nine kills as UT limited the visitors to a .055 attack percentage.
DeWeerdt spearheaded UT's first-set victory with six kills and a .308 ATK%. Holding an 11-9 advantage, the Rockets took control with five straight points to take a seven-point lead and never look back.
Toledo fell behind 4-0 early in the fourth set but quickly regrouped with a 9-1 spurt to take a 15-9 lead. The Rockets' offense was balanced in the set with five players notching either two or more kills.
UT enjoyed its best offensive showing of the match with a .345 attack mark in the third set as seven different Rockets tallied kills. Toledo never trailed and assumed control when five straight points led to a comfortable 10-4 margin.