TOLEDO, OH – Toledo fell short against Bradley on Friday in a five-set battle, losing 3-2 (25-15, 17-25, 18-25, 27-25, 17-15) in its first match of the season at the Rocket Invitational.
 
Sophomore OH Saige Thomas led the way for the Midnight Blue & Gold with a career-high 18 kills (.250 ATK), while junior RSH Mary O'Connor trailed closely behind with 14 terminations (.265 ATK). Freshman OH/MB Gracey Tuifua added eight kills and a team-high .467 ATK%.
 
Freshman S Carly Townsend also completed her first collegiate game with 46 assists and three kills. Sophomore libero Maggie Johnston compiled 21 digs, while freshman DS Maurissa Leonard added 14.

After losing the first set, the Rockets answered back by winning the next two. Toledo did not give up its lead throughout both sets and registered attack percentages of .464 and .367.
 
The Braves then evened the match with a 27-25 win in set 4, barely topping the Rockets. The battle of set five began with a 6-1 run by Toledo, before Bradley evened up the score at 13-13. Unfortunately for UT, Bradley scored four of the next six points to secure the 17-15 win.

"We responded well after the first set," Toledo head coach Greg Smith said. "After we relaxed and started to play our game, good things happened. Sets four and five could have gone either way, but we just need to learn how to play the bigger points."
  
Toledo will look to bounce back against Green Bay at 7:00 p.m. tonight in the final game of day one in Savage Arena.