TOLEDO, OH – The Toledo volleyball team had its home opener spoiled by Valparaiso on Tuesday, as the Rockets were defeated 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-19) by the Crusaders in Savage Arena.

“We had a couple good individual performances which is what we've had for the last couple weekends, but not a whole team performance,” head coach Greg Smith said. “That's what's hurting us. We were hoping to come in and play better than we did, and we just have a lot of things to work on going into tomorrow's practice.”

Sophomore OH Alyssa Ehrhardt and freshman RSH Saige Thomas led the Rockets with nine kills, and recorded a .273 and .368 attack percentage, respectively. Ehrhardt also had a team-high 13 digs.

The Rockets were held to a .184 attack percentage by Valparaiso, as the Crusaders totaled 6.5 total team blocks.

Junior Alex Hines and freshman Brianna Foster split time at setter in the match, tallying 15 and 14 assists, respectively.

The Midnight Blue & Gold trailed for much of the first two sets, but went on a run to begin the third.

Toledo built up an 11-8 lead, but Valparaiso scored the next four points and the Rockets were never able to regain the lead the rest of the match.

“With the third set, it was about having a passion for the game and some court chemistry,” Smith said. “We gotta be better at stopping the runs, and that's what hurt us tonight.”

Valparaiso was led offensively by sophomore OH Emily Campbell, who tallied 13 kills (.290 ATK), while junior S Kelsey Berrington had match highs in assists (35) and digs (14).

Toledo will host the annual Rocket Invitational beginning this Friday, when it welcomes IPFW, Minnesota and Duquesne for the two-day tournament. The Rockets' first match will take place on Friday, Sept. 19 at noon against IPFW.