TOLEDO, OH - Toledo looked to be on its way to a victory over Eastern Michigan on Friday evening but couldn't put the Eagles away as the Rockets dropped a 3-2 (31-33, 21-25, 30-28, 25-23, 15-9) decision in Savage Arena. The defeat drops UT's record to 7-10 overall and 1-4 in the MAC, while EMU's ledger improves to 12-9 overall and 2-3 in league play.
"Tonight's match was extremely tight and Eastern Michigan hung in there and rallied from a 2-0 deficit," Toledo Head Coach Greg Smith said. "I thought we played well. We just had a couple of hiccups that let EMU come back against us when we had substantial leads. You can't do that against a team like Eastern."
The Rockets received several milestone performances in the marathon contest led by junior MB Dakota Harkins' career-high 13 blocks (4 BS, 9 BA), 12 kills and .462 attack percentage. Junior OH Lauren Rafdal tied her career best with 25 kills to go along with a career-high 17 digs, while senior OH Sondra Parys tallied a season-high 21 terminations. Junior S Adria Pryor quarterbacked Toledo's attack and registered career bests in both assists (68) and digs (16).
"Dakota did a great job in practice this week and came into tonight's match with a lot of confidence," Smith said. "A defense like Eastern's is tough to score on, and I thought Sondra and Lauren took some good swings but it just didn't work out our way tonight."
Senior libero McCall Paynter topped UT's defensive efforts in the back row with a career-high 28 digs and was joined by junior OH Jordan Kielty with a career-best 19 digs. Harkins played a role in 13 of the Rockets' 16 blocks on the evening and was joined at the net by junior RSH Becca Reidy (5 BA's) and Parys (4 BA's).
Senior OH Rachel Iaquaniello led Eastern Michigan with 25 kills and was joined in double figures by junior OH Paige Roback (16 kills), junior RSH Erin Short (11 kills) and senior MB Kristen Baker (11 kills).
Toledo had all the momentum entering the third set and was on top 16-11 before the Eagles rallied. UT had turned the tables on EMU earlier in the match by rallying from a 24-20 deficit in Set 1 to pull out a 33-31 win. The Rockets turned back five set points before a Harkins kill and two more from Parys provided the decisive points.
Toledo carried its momentum into Set 2 by jumping out to a 4-0 lead. EMU then rallied and scored six straight points to even the score at 16-16. The teams then traded points until the Rockets scored the final five points of the set for the win. Highlighting the late set surge were two Reidy kills, a Harkins block and a Kielty service ace.
Toledo appeared en route to the victory when it took a 16-11 advantage midway through Set 3, but a 9-3 Eagle spurt had the Rockets staring at a 20-19 deficit. Parys then produced three straight kills to put UT back in front at 22-21. EMU then tallied three straight points of its own for a 24-22 lead, but UT evened the score at 24-24. The Eagles then had four straight set points before finally securing the win on a Iaquaniello kill and a Rocket attack error.
Toledo regrouped from its loss by taking a 16-12 lead in Set 4 only to see its visitors fight back with five straight points following a timeout. The teams then traded points the rest of the way until a Baker kill and block (along with Kelsey Jones) tied the contest at 2-2.
The final set was tied at 7-7 until a four-point EMU spurt put Toledo in a hole that it couldn't dig out of.
Toledo returns back to action on Saturday evening with a 7:30 p.m. matchup vs. Central Michigan in Savage Arena. The Chippewas (10-6, 4-1 MAC) posted a 3-2 triumph tonight at Ball State (9-9, 2-3 MAC).
