Toledo, Ohio – Just two matches remain in the regular season for Toledo volleyball. The Rockets play at Western Michigan on Friday, Nov. 10 before heading out to DeKalb, Ill. to face Northern Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 11.

Friday, Nov. 10 (7:00 p.m.): Toledo at Western Michigan | Live Stats | Live Stream
Saturday, Nov. 11 (8:00 p.m.) Toledo at Northern Illinois | Live Stats | Live Stream

Entering the weekend, UT is one of eight MAC teams in position to earn a MAC Tournament spot. With a 7-7 conference record, Toledo is tied with Central Michigan and Western Michigan, but just a game back of Ohio and Buffalo which both sit at 8-6. Northern Illinois is currently on the outside looking in at 6-8. A full slate of league matches await, so some shuffling in the standings is inevitable. 

Last Time Out
Toledo split its two road matches last weekend, falling at Ball State on Thursday before taking down Buffalo in five sets on Saturday.

In the four-set loss against the Cardinals, Saige Thomas led the team with 15 kills while Annie Beasley and Chloee Kleespies each tallied 10 terminations. Carly Townsend added 39 assists, and three Rockets had double-digit dig totals: Maurissa Leonard (25), Lauren Bakaitis (15), and Townsend (14).

Against the Bulls, Emma Swope collected a team-high 14 kills, Beasley had 12, and Thomas had 10. Townsend registered 44 assists and Bakaitis led the team with 24 digs. UB won the first set handily and UT cruised in the second, but the final three frames of the evening were about as close as can be. Twenty-eight tie scores and 17 lead changes were scattered throughout the final three sets, including 10 ties in the abbreviated fifth set alone. The victory was the first for Toledo in a match at UB since 2013.

For the weekend, Beasley hit a ridiculous .564 and averaged 2.44 kills per set, while Thomas led the way with 2.87 kills/set. Rachel Vidourek led the team with 1.11 blocks per set.

By the Numbers
Here are some notable numbers for Toledo:

• Beasley (.363) enters the weekend third in the MAC in hitting percentage. She has been on quite the roll recently, hitting .416 and averaging 2.62 kills/set in her last 10 matches. On the road she has hit .423 this season.
• Rhyen Neal had four service aces in the second set against Buffalo and five throughout the match, setting a new career-high.
• In the fifth set against the Bulls, Andrea Stephenson had two crucial kills from the back row that helped UT triumph over UB. They were the first two kills of her career.
• The Rockets have averaged 17.42 digs per set this season, among the top 25 teams in the country in that category. Five players are averaging at least 2.00 digs/set.
• Emma Swope was second on the team with 2.39 kill/set during non-conference play earlier this year. Her 14 kills against Buffalo were a career-high for a conference match.

 
Scouting the Competition
Western Michigan: Toledo won the last meeting 3-1 back on Oct. 7 on its home court. The Rockets saw two players reach double figures in kills with the senior duo of Rachel Vidourek and Annie Beasley each recording 12 kills. Vidourek led the Midnight Blue and Gold with a .370 attack percentage. Carly Townsend recorded her fourth double-double of the season as she recorded 36 assists and 15 digs. Defensively, the Rockets dominated the Broncos at the net, registering 11 blocks to WMU's seven. Annie Beasley had a career-high 10 block assists, the seventh double-digit block assist effort in school history.

The Broncos are 14-11 with a 7-7 mark in conference play, and they'll come into Friday's match riding a four-match losing streak. WMU is third in the league in hitting (.211) and second in kills per set (13.58). Setter Mary Murphy is second in the MAC in assists, averaging 10.69 per set. The team has two players averaging at least 3.00 kills/set: Rachel Bontrager (3.30) and Sydney LeMay (3.07), who is also one of Western Michigan's defensive leaders with 0.92 blocks per set.

Northern Illinois:  These two teams last met Oct. 6 at Savage Arena in a match the Huskies won 3-1. Toledo won the first set, but NIU won the last three to secure the victory. Offensively, Annie Beasley and Saige Thomas led the way for the Rockets with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Carly Townsend had a hand in almost every termination for UT, registering 39 assists. Maurissa Leonard and Lauren Bakaitis were the team leaders defensively with 27 and 17 digs, respectively. Beasley led all comers with seven blocks and Chloee Kleespies added four herself. NIU's Kaylee Martin led the match with 24 kills, including nine in the fourth and final set.

The Huskies are 7-22 this season and 6-8 in MAC play. They have lost three straight matches coming into this weekend, once to conference power Miami and two to divisional foes Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. Kaylee Martin is averaging a team-best 3.72 kills per set, while Meg Wolowicz leads NIU with a .246 hitting percentage. Wolowicz also paces the team in blocks (1.01 per set) and Anna Brereton is the other defensive leader, recording 4.18 digs per set. Martin and Wolowicz have been particularly effective in league play, averaging 4.29 and 3.00 kills per set, respectively.