Houston, TX – Toledo defeated Penn, 3-2 (25-17, 25-23, 20-25, 17-25, 15-10), in its first match of Houston Baptist's Barcelona Labor Day Classic. The Rockets improve to 3-1 on the season, while Penn starts off its season at 0-1.
 
"We played very well in the first two sets but the wheels kind of fell off of our momentum going into the third and fourth," said head coach Greg Smith. "But we regrouped and started playing our game again in the fifth. I'm certainly not disappointed by our effort and we've started to find ways of picking ourselves back up and securing the win.
 
"I was glad to see that we hit well overall, but we lost 27 points to just reception and service errors. We need to turn around and improve for tomorrow's two matches."
 
Junior MB Rachel Vidourek and senior RSH Mary O'Connor led the Rockets' offense with 12 kills a piece, and junior OH Saige Thomas trailed closely with 11. Vidourek also paced the team with five rejections at the net.
 
Defensively, sophomore libero Maurissa Leonard led UT with a team-high 23 digs, while sophomore DS Andrea Stephenson added 13. Leonard also recorded a career-high five service aces.
 
The Rockets dominated Set 1 with a .375 ATK% as a team. Toledo jumped into a quick 5-0 lead and closed out the set with a victory after securing 10 of the last 13 points.  
 
After UT gained its largest lead in Set 2 (20-14), Penn managed to bring itself within one (24-23). A kill by Thomas secured Rockets' victory in the second frame.
 
Toledo jumped ahead quickly for the third time in the match but dropped the set due to its .091 attack mark.
 
After the Rockets tied the score, 1-1, the Quakers never relinquished their lead en route to a 25-17 victory in Set 4.
 
Toledo found its momentum again in the fifth and downed Penn, 15-10.
 
The Midnight Blue & Gold will return to the court tomorrow for its first ever matches against North Florida and host Houston Baptist at 2:00 p.m. (CT) and 7:00 p.m. (CT), respectively.