Toledo Continues MAC Play with Trips to Ball State, Akron

Thursday, September 29

Muncie, IN

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

Ball State

Toledo Continues MAC Play with Trips to Ball State, Akron

9/28/2016 10:27:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes

TOLEDO, OH – Toledo (8-6, 1-1 MAC) will travel to Muncie, IN this Thursday, Sept. 29 to compete against West Division co-leader Ball State (6-10, 2-0 MAC) at 7:00 p.m. Following Thursday's match, the Rockets will travel to Akron, OH to face off against the Zips (5-9, 0-2 MAC) on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 5:00 p.m.

The Toledo Rockets
    UT is coming off a home weekend split that marked the beginning of Mid-American Conference play. Toledo fell short in five sets (25-17, 19-25, 23-25, 25-14, 12-15) to Eastern Michigan on Friday, Sept. 23. The following day, the Rockets recorded their first three-set sweep of the season against Central Michigan (25-19, 25-21, 25-11).
    The Rockets keep their opponents to a .112 ATK% which places them first in MAC standings. Toledo also records the second most blocks with 2.24 bps.
    Junior OH Saige Thomas paced the Rockets on Saturday with 17 kills and a season-best .395 ATK%. On Friday, Thomas recorded 14 kills against EMU to bring her to a team-high 168 kills for the season. Thomas averages 3.00 kps, which puts her in fourth against MAC competition.
    Sophomore libero Maurissa Leonard records 4.91 dps which puts her at fourth for the MAC. Sophomore S Carly Townsend places second in the conference for assists with 10.71 aps which pushes Toledo to fifth in the league with 11.71 asp.
    Also making an impact on court is freshman MB Zoe Birnbrich who paces the team with 1.06 bps, which places her fourth in MAC standings. Junior MB Rachel Vidourek and sophomore OH/MB Gracey Tuifua also help on offense recording 2.48 kps and 2.35 kps, respectively.

Scouting Ball State
    BSU hosts the Midnight Blue & Gold after recording two five-set wins last weekend. The Cardinals battled against Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan and were able to come out on top thanks to a team effort. Contributing to offense was junior OH Sabrina Mangapora records 3.05 kps and added 15 kills for the Cardinals versus EMU. Leading BSU's defensive efforts are junior MB Avery Devoe and freshman DS Kate Avila who record 0.88 bps and 4.04 dps respectively.

Scouting Akron
    The Zips are competing against the Rockets after a losing weekend against Ohio and Kent State. Senior DS Brenna Mack leads Akron's defensive efforts with 3.65 dps. Mack posts 5.57 dps against MAC foes, which places her third in the conference. Senior RS Amanda Bedell paces the Zips' offense with 130 kills which puts her at 2.77 kps.

Toledo vs. Opponents

Toledo has an all-time series record of 7-63 against Ball State, the last match being a 0-3 loss last season.
The Rockets lead their all-time series vs. Akron, 23-18, and defeated the Zips 3-0 last season.

Looking Ahead
The Rockets will travel to Kalamazoo, MI to face Western Michigan on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7:00 p.m. The following day UT will be in DeKalb, IL to take on the Huskies at 7:00 p.m. CT.