Box Score FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Senior Saige Thomas (Corpus Christi, Texas) had a night to remember on day one of the Fort Wayne Invitational as she collected a career-high 24 kills as the Toledo volleyball program fell to SIU Edwardsville in a five-set thriller (25-21, 15-25, 29-31, 25-21, 11-15) on Friday night.

"It was a tough first match as we knew it would be from playing SIUE last year. We did some really nice things tonight but we need to learn to finish sets out as we had leads in four of the five sets from the midway point and after," said head coach Greg Smith. "Tomorrow is another opportunity to come and make those changes."

Thomas led the Rockets with 24 kills while recording an attack percentage of .277. In the final three sets of the match, the outside hitter collected 17 of her 24 kills. Fellow senior Rachel Vidourek (Oxford, Ohio) eclipsed the double-digit kill mark with 11 while senior Annie Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.) and sophomore Zoe Birnbrich (Dublin, Ohio) each had eight.

Defensively, the Rockets were dominant at the net recording 17 blocks to SIUE's 10. Birnbrich led the squad with nine blocks with Vidourek recording seven. Junior Carly Townsend (Germantown, Wis.) nearly ended with a double-double as she registered 52 assists and nine digs
It was the 53^rd fifth-set match for UT since 2010, which leads the Mid-American Conference.

The Rockets drop to 0-1 on the season and will begin day two of the Fort Wayne Invitational tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. against Quinnipiac. Ending the tournament, UT will square off with host Fort Wayne at 7:00 p.m. inside the Gates Sports Center.

First Set:
The Rockets started out the 2017 campaign on a roll as they cruised to an early 7-3 lead with four of the seven points coming by a kill. It didn't take long for SIUE to get into the match as they rallied back to cut the Rocket lead to one at 12-11 midway through the first. After trading multiple points, UT held on to a 19-17 lead before a furious five point rally by the Rockets forced the Cougars to call a timeout at 23-18. Ultimately, the Rockets grabbed the first set, 25-21.

Second Set:
The Cougars went on runs of three, four and eight to take the second set, 25-15 and tie the match. The Midnight Blue and Gold cut the SIU Edwardsville lead to 11-9 before the Cougars went on a furious 8-0 run to take command of the lead. Down the stretch, SIUE scored five of the final seven points.

Third Set:
It was a marathon third set between the Rockets and Cougars as SIUE outlasted UT, 31-29. After UT jumped out to a 17-12 lead, SIUE stormed back scoring eight of the next nine points, including five straight to capture the lead. From that point on it was back and forth action down the stretch with the Rockets having three opportunities to win the set late. However, the Cougars rattled off three straight points at the end to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Fourth Set:
Toledo trailed for just five points in the fourth set as the Rockets dominated down the stretch winning six of the final seven points to take the fourth set, 25-21. With the match tied at 20-20, UT took advantage of three errors by the Cougars coupled with kills by freshman Emma Swope (Fredericksburg, Va.) to seize momentum and force a fifth set.

Fifth Set:
Thomas took control of the Rocket offense in fifth set, despite UT falling to SIUE, 15-11. Thomas had five kills in the final set including the first three points for the Rockets. Yet, SIUE was able to pull away late as they scored six of the final eight points to win the set and the match.