TOLEDO, OH – Toledo hits the road this weekend for a pair of matchups against the top two teams in the MAC's West Division. The Rockets will visit DeKalb, IL to battle Northern Illinois (14-10, 10-2 MAC) on Friday, Nov. 6 at 8:00 p.m. before heading to Kalamazoo, MI to battle Western Michigan (12-15, 8-4 MAC) on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7:00 p.m. Friday's contest vs. the Huskies will be televised live on ESPN3 and can be seen on the WatchESPN app.
      The Midnight Blue and Gold split their matches last weekend with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-13, 25-14) loss to Ball State on Thursday and a 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-21) victory over Akron on Saturday.
      Toledo ranks among the league leaders in digs, ranking sixth in overall matches with 15.60 dps and seventh in conference play with 15.69 dps.
      The Rockets' defense is led by freshman libero Maurissa Leonard, who ranks third in the league with 5.20 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 since early September, Leonard recorded a career-high 32 digs against WMU (Oct. 2) for the second time in league play.
      Sophomore MB Rachel Vidourek paces UT with a .308 attack percentage and 0.86 blocks per set. Vidourek's hitting mark ranks her sixth in the league.
      Sophomore OH Saige Thomas leads the team with 2.58 kps followed closely by Vidourek (2.40 kps) and junior RSH Mary O'Connor (2.09 kps).
      Thomas paced the team with 10 terminations this past weekend in the Rockets' victory over the Zips. Thomas also led UT's attack against the Cardinals, posting eight terminations.
      Freshman RSH/S Carly Townsend and sophomore OH Annie Beasley topped the team with six blocks apiece over the weekend.
 
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
      The Huskies, who rank first in the MAC with a .249 attack percentage, are tied for the MAC's best overall record with Ohio after notching a pair of road sweeps last weekend over Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan.
      Junior OH T'ara Austin leads the MAC with 4.24 kps with junior MB Jenna Radtke topping the league with a .397 ATK% and 1.21 bps. Also appearing in the conference rankings for NIU are senior S Alexis Gonzalez (3rd with 10.13 aps, 10th with 0.28 saps) and sophomore libero Anna Brereton (6th with 4.40 dps).
 
SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN
      The Broncos are in second place in the MAC's West Division, despite posting a 2-4 win-loss mark on their homecourt. WMU is undefeated in six MAC road contests after winning at Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan last weekend.
      Freshman libero Hailey Knecht has been named MAC Defensive Player of the Week five times this season. Knecht averages 5.08 dps which ranks her 23rd in Division I and second among all college freshmen.
      Sophomore MB Sydney LeMay has been WMU's top offensive performer in league play, ranking sixth with a .322 ATK% and eighth with 3.10 kps and 0.94 bps.
 
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 4.61 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 ranks third in the MAC with 5.20 dps in conference play.
 
MULTIPLE THREATS IN ROCKET ATTACK
      Sophomore Saige Thomas led the Rockets with 3.00 kps last weekend and has recorded a team-high 2.67 kps in conference matches.
      Sophomores Rachel Vidourek and Annie Beasley led Toledo with .333 attack percentages last weekend, while Beasley also posted a team high 1.00 bps and tallied a second-best 2.17 kps.
 
ROCKETS IN MAC RANKINGS (as of 11/4)
      Rachel Vidourek ranks sixth in the MAC with a .308 ATK%...Maurissa Leonard is fifth with 4.61 dps...Alex Hines is seventh with 9.11 aps...UT ranks sixth in the MAC with 15.60 dps.
 
ROCKETS VS. THIS WEEK'S FOES
• Northern Illinois holds a 38-10 advantage over Toledo following a 3-1 victory in the Glass City on Oct. 3. The Huskies hava a nine-game win streak vs. the Rockets in DeKalb with UT's last win coming in 2005.
• Toledo trails its all-time series vs. the Broncos by a 49-9 margin, including a 3-1 setback in Savage Arena on Oct. 2. The Rockets posted their only victory ever in Kalamazoo with a 3-2 triumph in their 2013 campaign.
 
A LOOK AHEAD
      Toledo wraps up its 2015 regular season vs. Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. UT will face the Chippewas (10-15, 5-7 MAC) on Friday, Nov. 13 and the Eagles (12-13, 4-8 MAC) on Saturday, Nov. 14.