TOLEDO, OH – Green Bay utilized a balanced attack to down Toledo, 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23), on Friday evening in the final match of the day at the Rocket Invitational.
 
Junior RSH Mary O'Connor continued her hot start to the young season, tallying a team-high 15 kills (.433 ATK%) to top UT's offense. Sophomore MB Rachel Vidourek trailed closely behind with 10 terminations and a team-high .500 ATK%.
 
Junior libero Maggie Johnston paced the team with 19 digs, while sophomore DS Lauren Bakaitis added 12. Freshman MB Gracey Tuifua spearheaded UT's defensive effort at the net with a match-high five blocks.
 
The Phoenix attack featured five individuals with double-digit kill totals led by Abby Jeffcoat's 12 kills and Lydia DeWeese's team-best .455 ATK% (11-1-22).

The first set remained tight until Green Bay unfortunately managed to pull away for a 25-20 victory. O'Connor led both teams in the set with six kills and a .600 ATK%.
 
Set two started out close but the Rockets pulled away for a 12-7 cushion following three straight kills from Vidourek. Green Bay evened the score at 16-16 though and never trailed the remainder of the set to win 25-22.
 
The Midnight Blue & Gold gained momentum in the third set and led 19-15, but the Phoenix tied it up at 21 shortly after. The Rockets stopped Green Bay's run though with straight points for a 25-22 victory.
 
Toledo carried over its momentum with six unanswered points to open the fourth set. Green Bay answered with six consecutive points to even the score and to even the score and eventually extended its lead to as many as eight points at 18-10. The Rockets nearly evened the score late when senior Alex Hines and freshman 
Gracey Tuifua combined for a block to bring UT within a point at 24-23.

UT will conclude the Rocket Invitational on Saturday when it faces off against Youngstown State. The match is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. following the tournament's championship match pitting Bradley (2-0) and Green Bay (2-0). The Penguins will battle Portland in the first match of the day at Noon.