MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Toledo opened up this weekend's Diet Coke Invitational hosted by No. 3 Minnesota with a 3-2 (18-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 15-9) comeback victory over Horizon League foe Green Bay. The win improved the Rockets' overall record to 7-3, while the Phoenix dropped to 7-3 on the season.

"We won a tight five-set match tonight and once again we found a way to rally from a 2-1 deficit," Head Coach Greg Smith said. "We did a great job of fighting back and finding our rhythm after dropping the third set. The team really stepped up to get the job done, and I think we are just getting better in all phases of the game with each match that we play."

UT utilized a balanced offensive attack with four Rockets – junior OH Saige Thomas (15), sophomore OH Gracey Tuifua (14), junior MB Rachel Vidourek (13) and freshman MB Zoe Birnbrich (11) – tallying double-digit kill totals.

Sophomore libero Maurissa Leonard collected a match-high 31 digs, while Birnbrich and VIdourek garnered  five and four blocks, respectively.

Toledo held a slight edge in kills (64-62) as well as service aces (6-2), while the Phoenix held slim advantages in attack percentage (.202-.199), digs (72-69) and blocks (13-9).

The Rockets fell behind 3-2 early in the fifth set but managed to gain control with a four-point run. Birnbrich keyed the spurt with a pair of kills and a solo block, while junior DS Lauren Bakaitis registered a service ace. Green Bay cut UT's lead to two points on two occasions at 6-4 and 7-5 but couldn't come any closer.

Toledo will wrap up the tournament on Saturday with matches against the host Gophers and North Dakota at 10:00 a.m. CT and 4:30 p.m. CT, respectively.