TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo (10-8, 3-3 MAC) will welcome Ohio (9-9, 5-1 MAC) and Kent State (10-9, 3-3 MAC) to the Glass City this Homecoming weekend. The Rockets will first battle Ohio on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7:00 p.m. before facing off against Kent State the following day at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's match will be produced by BCSN and both contests can be viewed live on ESPN3.
Toledo Rockets
    UT dropped to 10-8 (3-3 MAC) after two losses last weekend. Western Michigan swept the Rockets in three sets (25-16, 25-7, 25-17), which marked the Chippewas first victory in league play. UT then came from behind to extend the MAC West Division Leader Northern Illinois to five sets before falling 3-2 (25-14, 19-25, 25-15, 21-25, 16-14).
    Junior OH Saige Thomas helps lead the Rockets' offensive efforts with 3.14 kps. Thomas contributed 18 kills against Northern Illinois and five against WMU. Junior MB Rachel Vidourek also helps to propel UT's efforts on offense and has registered a .311 ATK%, ranking her seventh in the league. Vidourek records 2.19 kps, which puts her right behind sophomore OH Gracey Tuifua who records 2.57 kps.
    Sophomore S Carly Townsend remains the quarterback of the offense. She has recorded 10.66 aps, which places her second in the conference.
    Sophomore libero Maurissa Leonard paces Toledo's defense with 4.84 dps. Last week she recorded 25 digs vs. NIU and 15 against the Broncos. Senior DS Maggie Johnston and junior DS Lauren Bakaitis also assist in the back court, recording 2.01 and 2.03 dps, respectively. Freshman MB Zoe Birnbrich leads the defensive efforts at the net, tallying .97 bps.
    As a team, UT places second in the MAC with 2.13 bps and fourth in opponent kills with 12.35 kps.
Scouting Ohio University
    Ohio is visiting Toledo after a successful home-stand last weekend against Kent State and Eastern Michigan. OU claimed victory over Kent in four sets (25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 25-16). Then, after coming from a 2-1 deficit, Ohio managed to rally and win the last two sets against Eastern to claim a five-set victory (25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-8). Senior libero/OH Mallory Salis tied her career high of 22 kills for the second match in a row, achieving a double-double with 19 digs vs. Eastern. Sophomore libero Erica Walker registered a career-high 22 digs vs. Ohio.
Scouting Kent State
    Kent is coming off of a split weekend where they first lost to OU, 3-1, and then swept Central Michigan (27-25, 25-18, 25-18). Junior OH Kelsey Bittinger paces the offense with 3.48 kps, followed by senior MB Drew Norberg with 2.81 kps. Junior DS/libero Challen Geraghty sets the pace in the backcourt with 5.41 dps, which ranks her at second in the MAC. At the net, freshman MB Myla King records 1.07 bps, placing her third in the league.
Rockets vs. This Week's Foes
• Toledo leads the all-time series with the Golden Flashes, 27-25. UT saw its seven-game winning streak vs. Kent State snap the past two years with two 3-0 setbacks.
• The Rockets trails their all-time series vs. Ohio, 34-16, and have not defeated the Bobcats since 1999.
Looking Ahead
    In the fifth week of conference play, UT will hit the road for Oxford, OH to face off against Miami on Friday, Oct. 21 at 7:00 p.m. The following day, Toledo will face rival Bowling Green in the Battle of I-75 on their home court at 5:00 p.m.
