TOLEDO, OH – Toledo remains on the road this weekend as they travel to Kent State on Friday, Oct. 16 to battle the Golden Flashes (10-8, 4-2 MAC). UT will then head to Athens, OH the following day to take on Mid-American Conference East Division leader Ohio (16-3, 6-0 MAC).
     UT will be looking to post its first conference victory after letting leads slip away in its first three league matches. Last Friday, the Rockets were on their way to winning Set 1 at Eastern Michigan but let a 24-20 lead slip away en route to a 31-29 defeat. Toledo also nearly won Set 2 but fell by a 27-25 margin.
     Toledo ranks among the league leaders in digs, ranking third in conference matches with 17.09 dps and fourth overall with 16.00 dps.
     The Rockets' defense is led by freshman libero Maurissa Leonard, who leads the league with 5.74 dps in conference action. The Oregon, OH native was named the MAC West Defensive Player of the Week the first two weeks of conference play for her standout performances in the UT backcourt.
     A starter at libero for UT's last 14 contests, Leonard recorded a career-high 32 digs against WMU (Oct. 2) for the second time in league play.
     Sophomore MB Rachel Vidourek paces UT offensively with a .313 attack percentage and 2.55 kps. Vidourek's hitting mark ranks her seventh in the league. The sophomore also leads the team with 0.82 bps.
     Sophomore OH Saige Thomas ranks second on the team with 2.49 kps followed by junior RSH Mary O'Connor with 2.22 kps. Thomas paced the team with 11 kills and a .400 ATK% versus Eastern Michigan last Friday with O'Connor followed registering nine terminations and hitting at a .300 clip.
     Sophomore OH Annie Beasley posted a career-high .636 ATK% (7-0-11) against Central Michigan last Saturday
 
SCOUTING KENT STATE
     Kent State ranks second in the conference with 12.93 kps and a .228 ATK% as well as third with 12.01 aps and 1.41 saps.
     A pair of Golden Flashes appear in the MAC's top five in kills per set with sophomore OH Kelsey Bittinger (3.79) and senior OH Kelly Hutchinson (3.52) ranking fourth and fifth, respectively. In addition, senior MB Bridget Wilhelm is fifth with a .322 ATK% and 1.06 bps.
 
SCOUTING OHIO
     Ohio has now won nine straight matches and brings a 30-match MAC regular-season winning streak into Friday's contest vs. Ball State. The Bobcats, who have started conference play 6-0 for the third time in the last five years, are the MAC's best defensive squad, ranking first with 2.47 bps, 17.71 dps and a .133 opponent ATK%.
     Senior S Abby Gilleland and senior libero Meredith Ashy top the league with 10.31 aps and 5.53 dps, respectively. In addition, senior MB Karin Bull ranks second with 1.18 bps and fourth with a .323 hitting mark.
 
LEONARD ANCHORS BACKCOURT
     Freshman Maurissa Leonard has emerged as the Rockets' defensive leader after taking over as UT's starting libero on Sept. 5.
     Leonard leads UT with 4.60 dps and has tallied 30 or more digs on four occasions. She collected a season-high 32 digs versus Ball State (Sept. 24) and Western Michigan (Oct. 2) as well as 30 against Evansville (Sept. 5) and Youngstown State (Sept. 11).
     Leonard has started the last 14 matches at libero for the Rockets. She ranks second in the MAC with 4.60 dps in conference play.
 
VIDOUREK VITAL TO ATTACK
     Sophomore Rachel Vidourek has paced UT in kills on nine occasions this season, including 16 kills, .400 ATK% (16-4-30) and a match-high seven rejections against Robert Morris (Sept. 18).
     Vidourek has recorded 58 blocks this season (0.82 bps) and a .313 ATK%.
 
ROCKETS IN MAC RANKINGS (as of 10/14)
     Rachel Vidourek ranks seventh in the MAC with a .313 ATK%...Maurissa Leonard is fifth with 4.60 dps and is second in league matches with 5.74 dps...Alex Hines is sixth with 9.27 aps...Lauren Bakaitis is ninth with 0.32 saps.
 
ROCKETS VS. THIS WEEK'S FOES
• Toledo leads the all-time series 27-24 against the Golden Flashes. UT saw its seven-game winning vs. Kent State end with a 3-0 setback at home last year.
• The Rockets trails their all-time series vs. Ohio, 33-16, and have not defeated the Bobcats since the 1999 campaign.
 
A LOOK AHEAD
     The Rockets return home next weekend to host arch-rival Bowling Green (5-14, 1-5 MAC) on Friday, Oct. 23 followed by a matchup vs. Miami (12-7, 4-2 MAC) on Saturday, Oct. 24. UT will then visit Ball State (9-11, 3-3 MAC) on Thursday, Oct. 29 before hosting Akron (7-12, 1-5 MAC) on Saturday, Oct. 31.