Toledo, Ohio – After opening up its season on the road at the Fort Wayne Invitational, Toledo volleyball returns home to Savage Arena this weekend for the BG/UT Invitational. The Rockets will face Southeastern Louisiana and VCU on Friday and Notre Dame on Saturday.

For all three matches this weekend, fans in attendance will receive team posters and schedule magnets and will be able to get player autographs after each match. For Saturday's match, Fetterman Gym will be open to children pre-game for free play and fans in attendance will receive Toledo volleyball t-shirts.

Friday, Sept. 1 (11:00 a.m.): SE Louisiana vs. Toledo | Live Stats
Friday, Sept. 1 (7:00 p.m.): VCU vs. Toledo | Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 2 (7:00 p.m.) Notre Dame vs. Toledo | Live Stats

Last Time Out
The Rockets opened up their 2017 campaign last weekend, a 1-2 showing at the Fort Wayne Invitational where they notched their first win of the season against Quinnipiac. In the five-set victory over the Bobcats Saige Thomas and Rachel Vidourek led the way with 15 and 14 kills, respectively, while Carly Townsend led all comers with 50 assists and 16 digs.

By the Numbers
With a weekend of competition under its belt for the 2017 season, here are some notable numbers for Toledo:

• Carly Townsend's 145 assists are tops in the MAC and ranked 17^th in the NCAA.
• Saige Thomas leads the Rockets with 48 kills, including 24 against SIU Edwardsville, a career-high; that was also the second-most by anyone in the MAC on opening weekend.
• Maurissa Leonard is the team leader so far with 52 digs.
• As a team, Toledo's 2.43 blocks per set is the second-highest rate in the MAC.

Scouting the Competition
Southeastern Louisiana: The Lions are 0-3 to start the season, with all three losses coming in three sets. The defeats came at the hands of Samford, Murray State, and MAC foe Ohio. Southeastern has a young team this season; 11 of the 14 players on the roster are underclassmen and there are no seniors. Chloee Holden (18) is leading the team in kills while Lexie Torres leads the way with 28 digs. This weekend marks the first time Toledo has faced Southeastern Louisiana in program history.

VCU: The Rams are 2-1 thus far, winning two out of three down in College Station, Texas to begin their season at the Texas A&M Invitational. Victories came over Texas State and Sam Houston State and the lone defeat was to the Aggies. After posting 14 blocks in three matches during the weekend, sophomore Jasmin Sneed was named A-10 Defensive Player of the Week. Picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, VCU brought back all six starters from 2016. UT has faced the Rams once before, winning the lone matchup between these two teams.

Notre Dame: Hosting the Golden Dome Invitational last weekend, the Fighting Irish are off to a perfect 3-0 start in 2017, with wins coming over Valparaiso, Rhode Island, and New Mexico State. In the preseason ACC poll they were picked fourth in the conference, and a pair of seniors were placed on the All-ACC preseason team: Sam Fry and Caroline Holt. Jemma Yeadon leads the team with 33 kills, while Ryann DeJarld is tops in the NCAA in digs per set at 7.91. Rockets and Fighting Irish have faced off four times before with ND taking all four contests.

Vidourek, Leonard named Preseason All-MAC West; Rockets picked to finish fourth in MAC West
Senior Rachel Vidourek (Oxford, Ohio) and junior Maurissa Leonard (Oregon, Ohio) earned Preseason All-MAC West honors while the Rockets were picked to finish fourth in the MAC West along with two first-place votes.

Non-Conference Success
UT enjoyed great non-conference success a season ago, recording seven victories. The seven victories ranked fourth most in the MAC and second in the MAC West division behind NCAA Tournament participant Northern Illinois.

Recruiting Class Tabbed as One of the Best
The 2017 recruiting class of Caleigh Barhorst, Rhyen Neal, Emma Swope and Chloee Kleespies was nationally recognized by PrepVolleyball.com, appearing on the website's High Honorable Mention listing of top incoming freshman.

Live Streaming
All Toledo home matches this season will be streamed on ESPN3.