TOLEDO, OH – Toledo was unable to win its final match in the Rocket Invitational on Saturday, falling in straight sets (25-13, 26-24, 26-24) to Youngstown State.
 
The Rockets were held to a .178 attack percentage in the contest and were led on the offensive end by sophomore MB Rachel Vidourek with 11 kills (.579 ATK%) and sophomore OH Saige Thomas who tallied nine terminations (.471 ATK%).
 
Senior S Alex Hines had a strong match, recording 30 assists and seven digs. Junior libero Maggie Johnston paced the team with 12 digs and senior DS/OH Maddie Strall tallied nine.
 
"When it comes down to crunch time we were unable to finish," Toledo head coach Greg Smith said. "This week we're going to work on the little details that will help put us ahead of our competition."
 
The Rockets trailed early in the first set 15-5 and was unable to overcome the Youngstown State offense. The Penguins won 25-13 and recorded a .296 ATK%.
 
UT jumped into an early lead in the second set, 10-7. YSU tied it up at 12 before the Rockets pulled away again to make it 16-12. The Penguins fought back to tie up the score 20-20 and scored five straight points to win the set, 26-24.
 
Youngstown led early in the final set before a strong comeback from UT with seven straight points to take the lead 16-15. The Penguins managed to pull ahead 21-19 and they never looked back, closing out the Rockets 27-25.
 
For her effort on the weekend, Vidourek was named to the all-tournament team. The Oxford, OH native registered 2.17 kills per set and a .451 ATK% (26-3-1) in three sets. She also notched a team-high nine blocks on the weekend.
 
UT travels to Chicago, IL next weekend on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 4-5 for the DePaul Invitational to take on DePaul, Eastern Illinois, and Evansville. The Rockets do not return home until the Blue/Gold Invitational on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 18-19.