TOLEDO, OH - Toledo (15-13, 8-8 MAC) will open postseason play this weekend when it heads to the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championship hosted by regular-season co-champion Northern Illinois in DeKalb, IL.
    The Rockets have earned the No. 6 seed and will open play at the NIU Victor E. Court on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. CT with a first-round matchup against No. 7 seed Kent State (15-14, 8-8 MAC). On Friday, the quarterfinals will feature No. 3 Ohio (15-13, 11-5 MAC) and the winner of Toledo/Kent State at 7:30 p.m. CT.
    No. 2 Northern Illinois will then take on the survivor of Ohio/Toledo/Kent State on Friday at 7:30 p.m. CT. The MAC Championship Match is slated for Sunday at 5:00 p.m. CT.
    Single-match tickets start at $10 while all-session passes are $30. Call (815) 753-PACK (7225) to purchase today or visit NIUHuskies.com. The NIU Athletics Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    Saturday's semifinal matches, as well as the final, will air live on ESPN3 while all the first round and quarterfinal matches will be streamed on MAC-Sports.com.
 
MAC Championship Talk
    Toledo is playing in the MAC Championship for the 14^th time in program history. UT's last appearance was in 2013 when the No. 2 Rockets lost to Eastern Michigan in five sets in the quarterfinals.
 
Rockets in the MAC Tournament
All-Time Record: 7-12
    Home: 3-1
    Away: 1-6
    Neutral: 3-5
First Round: 4-4
Quarterfinals: 3-6
Semifinals: 0-4
 
The Midnight Blue & Gold
    Toledo (15-13, 8-8 MAC) has registered 11.86 kps, 11.21 aps, 15.03 dps and 2.08 bps on the season.
    Junior MB Rachel Vidourek tops the Rockets with a .321 ATK% and ranks third with 2.21 kps. She has posted double-digit kills in 14 matches this season and has hit above .400 nine times. Vidourek has also notched a team-high 79 total blocks.
    Junior OH Saige Thomas paces Toledo with 2.86 kps, registering over 10 kills on 19 occasions and topping the team in 17 matches. Sophomore OH Gracey Tuifua trails Thomas with 2.34 kps.
    Sophomore S Carly Townsend has totaled 1,133 assists this season for 10.21 aps, and is third on the team with 71 total blocks.
    Sophomore libero Maurissa Leonard has anchored the Rockets' backcourt all season, totaling 545 digs for 4.91 dps. Leonard is assisted by senior DS Maggie Johnston who posts 2.11 dps and junior DS Lauren Bakaitis who adds 2.06 dps.
    Leonard and Bakaitis have each notched 25 service aces for 0.23 saps on the year.
 
Rockets in MAC Rankings
    Toledo sits third in the MAC with 2.08 bps and fourth with an average opponent hitting percentage of .197%.
    Junior Rachel Vidourek sits seventh with a .321 ATK% on the season and junior Annie Beasley ranks eighth with a .333 hitting mark in conference action. Junior Saige Thomas posts 2.86 kps overall which lands her in 10th place. Sophomore Carly Townsend comes in at fifth place for averaging 10.21 aps on the season.
    Sophomore Maurissa Leonard ranks third in the conference for tallying 4.91 dps and freshman Zoe Birnbrich sits sixth with 0.95 bps.
 
Rockets in the UT Record Book
    Sophomore Maurissa Leonard currently ranks first all-time in digs per set for a season in Toledo history, currently recording 4.91 dps. She also sits second for most individual season digs with 545.
    Junior Rachel Vidourek is tied for second in hitting for a season with a .321 ATK%. In her career (2014-16), Vidourek currently holds a .295 ATK% which places her second in the career record book.
    Junior Saige Thomas has moved into ninth place in total season attacks with 1,086.
 
Toledo's Closing Weekend
    The Rockets did not end the regular season on a high note, as they dropped their final two matches last weekend at home. Toledo ended up on the short end of a 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-11) setback to Northern Illinois on Friday, Nov. 11. Sophomore Gracey Tuifua paced the Rockets' attack with nine terminations. Defensively, junior Saige Thomas and junior Annie Beasley topped the team with three rejections apiece, while sophomore libero Maurissa Leonard led the backcourt with 21 digs.
    UT closed out Senior Night with a 3-1 (25-2, 25-17, 25-20, 25-21) loss to Western Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 12. Toledo's defense was led by four Rockets who notched double-digit digs. Leonard paced UT with 23 digs, junior Lauren Bakaitis followed with 15 and senior Maggie Johnston added 14. Sophomore Carly Townsend posted a double-double on the night with 14 digs to go along with 36 assists. Beasley led the team with 12 terminations and five blocks, and Tuifua recorded 11 kills.
 
Scouting Kent State
    No. 7 Kent State (15-14, 8-8 MAC) will face Toledo in the first round of the championship on Thursday. The Rockets hold a 28-25 advantage over the Golden Flashes after a come-from-behind 3-2 victory this season on Oct. 15 in Savage Arena.
    KSU split its final weekend of regular-season matches. The Golden Flashes closed out home play with a 3-1 defeat to Ohio but turned around to end the season with a 3-1 victory over Eastern Michigan. As a team, Kent State posts 12.94 kps, 16.60 dps and 1.94 bps.
    Leading the attack for the Golden Flashes is junior OH Kelsey Bittinger who sits second in the MAC with 3.56 kps. Senior MB Drew Norberg holds a team-high .254 ATK% and ranks behind Bittinger with 2.56 kps. Junior DS/L Challen Geraghty sits second in the league with 5.47 dps.
 
Scouting Ohio
    No. 3 Ohio (15-13, 11-5 MAC) has received a bye to the quarterfinals in this year's tournament and will face the winner of Toledo/Kent State on Friday. Toledo leads the all-time series with Ohio, 35-16, however, before the Rockets' 3-1 victory this season, UT hadn't beaten the Bobcats since 1999.
    The Bobcats logged a 3-1 victory over Kent State for the second time this season on Thursday, Nov. 10, before dropping their regular-season finale to Central Michigan in a five-set battle on Saturday, Nov. 12. As a squad, the Bobcats rank third in the MAC with 13.12 kps, 12.38 aps and 1.38 saps.
    Sophomore S/OH Stephanie Olman leads the conference with 11.00 aps on the season. Senior OH/L Mallory Salis ranks third in the league with 3.56 kps on the season and second with 4.08 kps in MAC matchups. Junior OH Jaime Kosiorek has registered 0.46 saps in conference matches which lands her in second place in the MAC rankings. Sophomore MB Katie Nelson won last week's East Division Offensive Player of the Week.
 
Scouting Northern Illinois
    No. 2 Northern Illinois (23-5, 15-1 MAC) claimed a share of the 2016 MAC Regular Season Championship and has received a double bye into the semifinals on Saturday where they will face the winner of Toledo/Kent State/Ohio. UT trails its series with NIU, 40-10, after two losses to the Huskies this season.
    The 2016 MAC Championship hosts began their last weekend of regular-season play with a 3-0 sweep over Toledo in the Glass City on Friday, Nov. 11. The Huskies then battled through five sets to come out on top of Ball State on Saturday, Nov. 12.
    Northern Illinois leads the league in blocks (2.61 bps) and ranks second in hitting percentage (.261%) and service aces (1.47 saps). Senior MB Jenna Radtke claimed the season's last West Division Player of the Week honor. Radtke leads NIU and ranks second in the conference with a .384 ATK%. She also leads the league with 1.15 bps on the season.