TOLEDO, OH – Toledo (15-11, 8-6 MAC) will play its final two regular-season contests in Savage Arena beginning with a meeting against West Division leader Northern Illinois (21-5, 13-1 MAC) on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:00 p.m. The Rockets will then close out their regular season vs. Western Michigan (10-17, 5-9 MAC) on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 5:00 p.m. Toledo currently is tied for second in the MAC West Division. Seniors Mary O'Connor, Maggie Johnston and Lindsay Smith will be honored following Saturday's match with a brief ceremony.     The Rockets opened up last weekend with a five-set win over Ball State (25-22, 12-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-10) on Thursday night. This completed a season sweep over the Cardinals after defeating them Sept. 29, 3-1. The sweep marked the second time UT has swept Ball State in a season over the last four years. On Saturday, Toledo came back from a 0-2 deficit to extend the match vs. the Bulls into five sets before falling to Buffalo, 3-2 (19-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 11-15).
    Junior OH Saige Thomas led the offensive efforts for the Rockets, racking up 16 kills against BSU and 13 against Buffalo. Junior OH Rachel Vidourek contributed 12 kills and four blocks against the Cardinals and 11 terminations and six blocks against the Bulls. Senior MB Mary O'Connor notched 11 kills and two rejections against Buffalo. Sophomore OH Gracey Tuifua also recorded 11 kills vs. the Bulls and the Cardinals.
    Sophomore Maurissa Leonard and senior DS Maggie Johnston each tallied 13 digs against Buffalo and 23 and 10 digs against Ball State, respectively. Leonard hit 1,000 career digs last weekend and now has at 1,008 digs as a Rocket. Sophomore DS Lauren Bakaitis also had 10 digs against BSU and 11 vs. Buffalo. Sophomore S Carly Townsend collected 15 digs against Ball State, her highest of the season.

• Toledo third in opponent hitting percentage (.192 ATK%)
• Toledo third in blocks (2.07 bps)
• Leonard third in digs (4.82 dps)
• Townsend fourth in assists (10.27 aps)
• Vidourek fourth in hitting % (.324 ATK%)
• Zoe Birnbrich fifth in blocks (0.97 bps)
• Thomas ninth in kills (2.92 kps)

    Leonard currently ranks fourth for most individual season digs in Toledo history with 501. She also ranks second in digs per set for a season, currently recording 4.82 dps. Vidourek is second in hitting for a season with a .324 ATK%. In her career (2014-16), Vidourek currently holds a .296 ATK%, which places her second in the career record book.     Last weekend, the Huskies clinched their third-straight MAC West title in the form of a 3-0 sweep over Eastern Michigan. The following day, NIU went on to overtake Central Michigan in four sets (23-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-15). The Huskies currently rank first in hitting percentage (.263 ATK%) and blocks (2.54 bps) in MAC rankings. They also come in second for opponent hitting percentage (.183 ATK%) and service aces (1.48/s). Senior MB Jenna Radtke tops the rankings with a .402 ATK% and is second with 1.12 bps. Radtke also records 2.67 kps, behind senior OH Mary Grace Kelly, who has 3.08 kps. Junior libero Anna Brereton sets the pace on defense with 3.91 dps.     WMU is visiting Toledo for the first time this season. The teams previously met in Kalamazoo, MI on Oct. 7 where the Broncos swept the Rockets. Western Michigan won both its matches against Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan this past weekend, downing CMU in three sets and EMU in four. Junior MB Sydney LeMay is fourth in the conference with 3.20 kps and ninth with 0.92 bps. Freshman libero Kathleen Reilly leads the team's defensive efforts with 4.52 dps. • Northern Illinois holds a 39-10 advantage over Toledo. When the teams met earlier this season, Toledo extended the Huskies to five sets before ultimately falling.
• Toledo trails its all-time series vs. the Broncos by a 50-9 margin. The Rockets are 2-4 vs. WMU in their last six meetings in Savage Arena.     These two matches wrap up the regular season for Toledo. The Rockets will be traveling to DeKalb, IL to compete in the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 17-20. UT still has a chance to receive a bye in the first round of the tournament depending on the outcome of this weekend's matches.