TOLEDO, OH – Toledo will host the Blue/Gold Invitational this weekend. The Rockets (1-9) will face Robert Morris (5-5) at Noon and Radford (6-4) at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18 and Cleveland State (8-3) at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19.
        "We're glad to be home after being on the road the last two weekends," said Toledo head coach Greg Smith. "I believe we've made quite a bit of progress as a team since the start of our season, but we don't have the wins to show for it. The biggest thing we need to work on is putting away a team when we have them down. We've had several times with a lead at the end of the set, but then we end up losing."
        Sophomore MB Rachel Vidourek is leading the Rockets with a .350 attack percentage and ranks second on the team with 2.70 kps and 0.80 bps. Vidourek led UT with 15 kills and tied her career high with eight blocks in a 3-1 loss at Valparaiso on Tuesday.
        Junior RSH Mary O'Connor tops the team with 2.78 kps, with sophomore OH Saige Thomas ranking third at 2.40 kps.
        Freshman Maurissa Leonard is leading the Rockets with 4.03 dps and has served as the team's libero in the last five matches.
        Robert Morris was off to its best start (5-2) since 2008 until going winless in three matches last weekend at New Mexico State's Borderland Invitational. The Colonials lost to the host Aggies and Brown in straight sets in addition to a 3-1 setback to UTEP. RMU's attack is led by junior OH Arden Fisher with a team-high 3.39 kps and senior MB Kristin Thompson who possesses a team-best .316 ATK%.
        Radford topped Norfolk State, 3-0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-18), on Tuesday to improve its record to 6-4. The Highlanders' attack is led by sophomore OH Maddie Palmer, who averages 4.32 kps, and senior RSH Megan Short, who has posted a .359 ATK%. Short notched an impressive .643 ATK% (10-1-14) against the Spartans on Tuesday.
        Cleveland State posted a 2-1 record at the Dayton Flyer Invitational last weekend. The Vikings notched victories over Eastern Illinois (3-2) and Baylor (3-1) before being swept by Dayton. Senior OH Christina Toth tops the CSU attack with 3.80 kps, followed closely by junior OH Grace Kauth with 3.40 kps.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
        Following is the schedule for this weekend with all matches to be played in Toledo's Savage Arena (7,300). All times below are listed in Eastern Time:
 
FRIDAY, SEPT. 18
Cleveland State vs. Radford, 10:00 a.m.
Toledo vs. Robert Morris, Noon
Cleveland State vs. Robert Morris, 5:00 p.m.
Toledo vs. Radford, 7:00 p.m.
 
SATURDAY, SEPT. 19
Radford vs. Robert Morris, 11:00 a.m.
Toledo vs. Cleveland State, 1:00 p.m.
VIDOUREK CONTINUES TO LEAD ATTACK
        Sophomore Rachel Vidourek tallied a team-high 15 kills to go along with a .353 attack percentage. She has posted a .350 hitting mark or higher in seven of 11 contests this season.
        Vidourek tallied a career-high 19 terminations (.381 ATK%) vs. Evansville (Sept. 5) and tied her career best with eight blocks at Valparaiso (Sept. 15).
        The Oxford, OH native has registered a team-best .350 ATK% with 2.70 kps and 0.80 bps this season.
 
TOWNSEND MAKES HER MARK AT RIGHT-SIDE HITTER
        Freshman Carly Townsend opened the season at setter and moved to right-side hitter at the DePaul Invitational due to an injury to freshman MB Gracey Tuifua.
        Townsend registered a season-best .400 ATK% (9-1-20) vs. IUPUI (Sept. 11) as well as a season-high 13 kills vs. Evansville (Sept. 5).
        Townsend has split her time at setter and outside hitter this season. She has tallied 58 kills (1.66 kps) and a .245 attack mark, while totalling 91 assists (2.60 aps).
 
CAREER-TOPPING STATISTICS
        Several Rockets have produced career bests over the last week, including the following:
• Senior Maddie Strall tallied a career-high 12 digs and three aces vs. Valparaiso (Sept. 15).
• Freshman Haley Sendelbach notched a season-best .500 ATK% with 6-1-10 totals vs. Valparaiso (Sept. 15). She also notched three solo blocks at Illinois State (Sept. 12).
• Freshman Maurissa Leonard tied her season high with 30 digs vs. Youngstown State (Sept. 11). She is averaging 4.03 dps this season and 6.05 dps since taking over as UT's libero vs. Evansville (Sept. 5).
 
ROCKETS IN THE MAC RANKINGS
        Rachel Vidourek ranks second in the MAC with a .350 ATK%...Alex Hines is fourth with 9.72 aps...Maurissa Leonard is eighth with 3.69 dps... UT ranks third in the MAC in assists per set (11.78), fourth in kills per set (12.53) and sixth in digs per set (14.53) as a team.
 
ROCKETS VS. THE FIELD
• Toledo is undefeated in four previous matchups vs. Robert Morris with the last meeting occurring in 1997.
• The Rockets will be facing Radford for the first time in this weekend's tournament.
• UT leads its all-time series against Cleveland State by a 21-8 margin but has dropped its last four meetings vs. the Vikings, including a 3-0 setback last year.
 
A LOOK AHEAD
        Toledo opens its Mid-American Conference campaign on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 7:00 p.m. against West Division foe Ball State (5-5) in Savage Arena. The Rockets will then travel to Buffalo (0-9) to face the Bulls on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m.