Dayton, OH – Toledo fell short against Dayton on Friday in the first match of Wright State's Holiday Inn Invitational. The Rockets fell 3-0 (25-21, 25-10, 27-25) to the 2015 Atlantic 10 Regular Season and Tournament Champions.
Â
Leading the Rockets offensively was junior MB
Rachel Vidourek who recorded nine terminations for an impressive .818 attack mark. Vidourek and senior RSH
Mary O'Connor each tallied three rejections at the net. Sophomore OH
Gracey Tuifua and freshman MB
Zoe Birnbrich each added six kills. Birnbrich also notched two blocks in her first collegiate match.
Defensively, sophomore DS
Maurissa Leonard paced UT with 10 digs, while senior libero
Maggie Johnston trailed closely with eight.
Â
Dayton jumped to an early 8-1 lead and led until Toledo managed to knot the score at 18. UT was unable to gain momentum and trailed the rest of the set, falling 25-21.
Â
The Flyers found their rhythm in the second set and never relinquished the lead. The Rockets were unable to get much going against UD's .684 ATK%.
Â
Toledo responded aggressively in the final set but it wasn't enough to overcome the 2015 NCAA Tournament team. The teams evened the score 15 times and the lead changed hands twice. The Rockets extended the set with kills from Vidourek and sophomore OH
Saige Thomas but UD managed to register its two final points to win 27-25 and claim the match.
Â
Toledo will return to the court tomorrow with back-to-back matches against host Wright State and SIU Edwardsville at 1:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.