TOLEDO, OH – Toledo entertains a pair of Mid-American Conference West Division foes this weekend in Savage Arena. The Rockets (3-12, 0-2 MAC) will battle Western Michigan (5-12, 1-1 MAC) on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7:00 p.m. and Northern Illinois (6-8, 2-0 MAC) on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 5:00 p.m.
      UT will be looking to post its first conference victory after letting a pair of leads slip away last weekend. The Rockets won the first two sets vs. Ball State before falling 3-1 at Buffalo after winning the opening set.
      Toledo currently ranks third in the league for digs (15.89 dps), fifth in assists (11.64 aps) and fifth in kills (12.36 kps).
      Sophomore MB Rachel Vidourek paces UT's attack with a .321 attack percentage and 2.58 kps. Vidourek's hitting mark ranks her fifth in the league. The sophomore also is tied for the team lead with freshman Haley Sendelbach at 0.89 bps with freshman Gracey Tuifua right behind the duo at 0.84 bps.
      Sophomore OH Saige Thomas ranks second on the team with 2.56 kps followed closely behind by junior RSH Mary O'Connor with 2.33 kps.
      Quarterbacking Toledo's efforts is senior S Alex Hines, who currently ranks second in the league with 10.00 aps. Hines registered a pair of career best in last week's action, tallying four aces against Ball State and seven blocks at Buffalo.
      Freshman libero Maurissa Leonard continues to anchor the back row defensive efforts with 4.25 dps, ranking sixth in the MAC in that department. She was selected as the MAC West Division Co-Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts against Ball State and Buffalo last weekend. She recorded a career-high 32 digs against the Cardinals and is averaging an impressive 5.34 dps since taking over the team's libero duties on Sept. 5.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN
      Western Michigan opened last weekend with a 3-1 home victory over Eastern Michigan but followed that with a 3-2 setback vs. CMU. Freshman libero Hailey Knecht shared MAC West Division Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors with Leonard by averaging 5.00 dps this past weekend. Sophomore Sydney LeMay leads the Broncos offensively with a .243 ATK% and 2.56 kps, while junior MB Nicole Kinser ranks second in the MAC with a team-best 1.28 bps.
 
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
      The Huskies, who rank first in the MAC with a .236 attack percentage, are tied for first place in the MAC's West Division with Ball State after notching a 3-1 win over Central Michigan and a 3-0 sweep of Eastern Michigan. Junior OH T'ara Austin, who was selected the MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week, ranks second in the MAC with 3.81 kps. Junior MB Jenna Radtke tops the league with a .365 ATK% and 1.28 bps.

VIDOUREK VITAL TO ATTACK
      Sophomore Rachel Vidourek has paced UT in kills on six occasions this season, including 16 kills, .400 ATK% (16-4-30) and a match-high seven rejections against Robert Morris (Sept. 18).
       Vidourek also tallied 13 kills and five blocks against Radford (Sept. 18). She was named to the all-tournament team for a third time this season.
      The Oxford, OH native, who sat out last Saturday's match at Buffalo, has registered a team-best .321 ATK% with 2.58 kps and 0.89 bps this season.
 
ROOKIE LEONARD STEPS UP AS DEFENSIVE LEADER
      Freshman Maurissa Leonard has started the last 10 matches at libero for the Rockets.
      Leonard leads UT with 4.25 dps and has tallied 30 or more digs on three occasions. She tallied a season-high 32 digs versus Ball State (Sept. 24) as well as 30 against Evansville (Sept. 5) and Youngstown State (Sept. 11).
      The Oregon, OH native was selected as the MAC West Division Co-Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts against Ball State and Buffalo last weekend.
 
ROCKETS IN MAC RANKINGS (as of 9/21)
      Rachel Vidourek ranks fifth in the MAC with a .321 ATK%...Alex Hines is second with 10.00 aps...Maurissa Leonard is sixth with 4.25 dps...Lauren Bakaitis is 10th with 0.32 saps...UT ranks third in the MAC with 15.89 dps, fifth with 12.36 dps and 11.64 aps, eighth with 0.97 saps, ninth with 2.03 bps and 11th with a .168 ATK%.
 
ROCKETS VS. THIS WEEK'S FOES
• Toledo trails its all-time series vs. the Broncos by a 48-9 margin. The Rockets are 2-3 vs. WMU in their last five meetings in Savage Arena
• Northern Illinois holds a 37-10 advantage over Toledo. UT is 2-3 vs. the Huskies in its last five meetings in Savage Arena.
 
A LOOK AHEAD
      Toledo will be on the road for the next two weekends with its next home match coming vs. arch-rival Bowling Green on Oct. 23.
      The Rockets will visit MAC West Division foes Eastern Michigan (Oct. 9) and Central Michigan (Oct. 10) next weekend.
            UT will then switch over to the MAC East Division with matchups at Kent State (Oct. 16) and Ohio (Oct. 17).