MILWAUKEE, WI - Junior OH Amber DeWeerdt led the way with 22 kills, including the match-winner, as Toledo (5-2) notched a thrilling 3-2 (21-25, 26-24, 25-15, 23-25, 15-13) triumph over Missouri Valley Conference foe Creighton on Friday afternoon at Marquette's Al McGuire Center. The match was the first of four that the Rockets will play at this weekend's Marquette/UW-Milwaukee Invitational over the next three days.
"Winning this match was important because we wanted to start the weekend on a positive note," said Toledo Head Coach Greg Smith, whose team also defeated No. 12 Michigan in a five-set match earlier this season. "Creighton played us tough, and there were a lot of momentum swings throughout the match. Amber took a lot of big swings, and it was good to see here come through with some critical points."
UT utilized a balanced attack in the match with five Rockets garnering eight kills or more. Freshman OH Lauren Rafdal tallied a season-high 15 kills, freshman MB Dakota Harkins and freshman RSH Becca Reidy registered nine kills apiece and sophomore MB Bailey Bank recorded eight kills.
"We needed everyone to step up for us offensively and that's what happened," Smith said. "We were able to find a way to win, because we received contributions from multiple people. I was happy we were able to fight through adversity, and I think that's a sign that we're growing as a team."
Toledo also produced a strong defensive effort in the contest, holding a 99-74 advantage in digs. Senior libero Katie Westerfeld led the way with 23 digs with DeWeerdt (17), junior S Kassie Kadera (16), Reidy (14) and freshman OH Jordan Kielty (13) also reaching double figures. Reidy was solid at the net as well with a season- and team-best five blocks.
"Our defense has been improving, and I think we're starting to make better defensive reads," Smith said. "We still have some work to do to get where we want to be, but I like the direction we're headed."
Creighton was led offensively by senior OH Alicia Runge's 22 kills and was the only Bluejay to reach double figures.
The Rockets dropped the first set, 25-21, behind a red-hot start from Runge. Runge had kills on her first five swings and finished the set wtih seven terminations. Toledo would draw within a point at 19-18 and 22-21, only to be done in by service errors each time. Back-to-back kills by Laurel Sanford gave the Jays the first-set triumph.
Toledo tied the match with a 26-24 second-set victory. The Rockets let an early 9-3 advantage slip away and fell behind by a 16-14 margin. UT rebounded though with a 7-1 run to take a 21-17 lead. The Jays would rally with a 5-1 spurt and tie the score at 22, 23 and 24, before Harkins put down consecutive kills to clinch the set for the Rockets. Toledo had 32 digs in the second set to help offset its 12 attack errors.
Toledo was unstoppable in the third set to win 25-15 and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Toledo had 16 kills while hitting .429, while also limiting the Bluejay offense to six kills and -.032 hitting. The Jays actually led 8-5 early before UT embarked on a 14-2 surge to put the set out of reach.
Just when it looked like Creighton was cruising to a fourth-set victory to even the match, Toledo wouldn't give up. The Rockets erased a 20-13 disadvantage with an 8-0 run fueled by six Bluejay attack errors. Creighton actually trailed 23-21 late before consecutive Toledo errors were followed by two straight kills from Megan Bober to lift the Bluejays to a 25-23 fourth-set victory.
The fifth set featured nine ties and four lead changes. Creighton owned its largest lead at 11-9, but UT answered with the next two points to tie the score at 11. After trading sideouts to even the score for the final time at 12, UT would score three of the final four points to claim the win, capped by a DeWeerdt kill off of a Bluejay block.
Toledo will now take the rest of the day off before facing UW-Milwaukee and Wisconsin on Saturday. The Rockets' match against the Panthers begins at 11:00 a.m. CT followed by its contest with the Badgers at 5:30 p.m. CT.
