Toledo, Ohio— In its final home match of 2017, Toledo volleyball fell to Central Michigan 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 12-15) in a five-set thriller.
 
After the match, Toledo's five seniors were honored during the team's senior day ceremony. Lauren Bakaitis, Annie Beasley, Brianna Foster, Saige Thomas, and Rachel Vidourek all received much deserved recognition for all they have contributed to UT's volleyball program.
 
Seniors Thomas and Beasley led the team with 19 and 14 kills, respectively, while Zoe Birnbrich added 11. Carly Townsend tied a season-high with 52 assists, and three Rockets reached double-digits in digs: Maurissa Leonard (26), Andrea Stephenson (15), and Lauren Bakaitis (12). For the weekend, Thomas led the team with 4.12 kills per set and Beasley hit a team-best .396. Leonard averaged 6.00 digs per set and Townsend averaged 11.75 assists per set.
 
UT won sets two and four while CMU won sets one and three, and then ultimately the fifth and final frame. Sets one and two featured just two tie scores and zero lead changes combined, but after getting settled in the Rockets and Chippewas played each other much closer. Sets three through five saw 24 tie scores and 17 lead changes as both teams truly battled in the match's later stages.
 
Toledo now sits at 11-13 overall and 6-6 in Mid-American Conference play. Next up for the Rockets are four road matches to finish up the regular season. On Thursday, Nov. 2 Toledo travels to Ball State for a matchup with the Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. Then on Saturday, Nov. 4 the Rockets head up to Buffalo to take on the Bulls at 6:00 p.m.
 
First Set: It was evident early on that Central Michigan came to play. The Chippewas jumped out to a 9-1 lead to start the match, including the first six points of the evening. It was all CMU for much of the set, but a turning point came midway through the game and the Rockets staged a comeback attempt. Trailing 18-12, Toledo scored nine of the next 11 points to tie the set at 20-20. The tying point came off the hands of Thomas, one of her 33 kills this weekend. Unfortunately, UT could not quite come all the way back and fell to CMU 25-23.
 
Second Set: Toledo hit .324 in the second stanza, the best hitting percentage of the night. Starting off on a 5-1 run, things looked good early on for the Rockets. Central Michigan hung around early, coming within one point of UT a couple of times, but once the Midnight Blue and Gold got rolling there was no stopping them. Beasley hit .800 and Birnbrich hit .600 en route to a 25-19 second set victory that tied the match at 1-1. Toledo led by as many as nine points, but CMU scored four straight points at the tail end before an attack error sealed the deal for UT.
 
Third Set: Unlike the previous two games, neither team jumped out to a large, early lead. Neither squad led by as many as three points until the Chippewas pulled away late. Toledo trailed 8-5 before scoring three straight to tie things up at 8-8. The Rockets actually led for the middle chunk of the third set, fueled by multiple kills from Thomas, and led as late as 17-16. Central Michigan caught fire after that, scoring eight of the next nine points to go ahead 24-18. Birnbrich and Thomas would tally terminations to keep Toledo alive, but CMU's Kalina Smith put away the set with one of her match-high 20 kills. The final score would end up 25-20.
 
Fourth Set: The tightest set of the night started off with a 4-2 Central Michigan lead. UT then grabbed ahold of the lead, 13-10, with Thomas, Emma Swope, and Beasley leading the charge on offense. The Chippewas regained the lead late, 22-20, and things were looking bleak for the Rockets. They never wavered, though, and went on to score four of the final five points, the last of which being an exclamation point kill from Thomas. Toledo would win 25-23 to force a fifth set, the second time this season these teams would play five sets.
 
Fifth Set: The final frame may have been shorter than the previous four, but it was not short on excitement. Central Michigan took an early 4-2 lead, then Toledo scored five of the next six points to leap ahead 7-5. After a timeout from the Chippewas, they came out and rattled off the next five points to gain control of the set, 10-7. The Rockets would pull within one, 13-12, but that's as close as they'd come. Central Michigan scored the final two points to win 15-14 and take the set, 3-2.