Mount Pleasant, Mich.— Kicking off the MAC portion of its schedule on Thursday, Toledo fell to Central Michigan in five sets (19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20, 11-15). The Rockets trailed after two sets, but made a valiant comeback attempt after winning sets three and four. Ultimately, however, the Chippewas prevailed in the fifth and final frame to win the match. With the loss UT drops to 5-8 on the season.

Leading the way for the Rockets was freshman Chloee Kleespies, whose 18 kills represent a new career high. Seniors Rachel Vidourek and Saige Thomas also registered double-digit terminations with 17 and 14, respectively. UT collectively hit .269 for the match and outdid Central Michigan in that department, while senior Brianna Foster tallied 56 assists, a new career-best mark.

Next up for the Rockets is a Saturday affair in Ypsilanti; they'll take on Eastern Michigan at 7:00 p.m.

First Set
Toledo started hot, jumping out to a 4-1 lead early in the frame. The three-point advantage would soon dwindle, though, and then disappear altogether after CMU rattled off eight of the next 11 points to take a 9-7 lead. The Rockets would score the next four points to retake the lead and go up two, 11-9. Seniors Vidourek and Lauren Bakaitis combined for three straight kills to push UT ahead of CMU. The Chippewas would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the frame, going on to win 25-19.

Second Set
It was Central Michigan who took an early lead this time, scoring the first four points of the set. Toledo wouldn't stay down for long, though, fighting back to tie it up at 6-6 after a monster kill from freshman Caleigh Barhorst. CMU controlled much of the set after that, going ahead 17-12, but the Rockets would make it interesting. Toledo erased that five point deficit to tie the set up at 20-20, then going a step further to take a 21-20 lead late in the frame. Central Michigan would score the next two points, though, to regain an advantage over the Rockets, this time for good. UT would end up falling 25-23 to go down 2-0 in the match.

Third Set
After trading points with Central Michigan early, Toledo took advantage of a few Chippewa errors to build a 9-4 lead. That advantage would eventually balloon to 13-5, the largest lead of the night for the Rockets. CMU would make it interesting and pull within two, 16-14, but Toledo stood tall to take the third set 25-19. Vidourek's four kills were the most from either team in the third frame, and she stepped up when it mattered most; she scored three of Toledo's final six points to help push her team to a set victory.

Fourth Set
The Rockets started the set up 2-0 thanks to consecutive kills from senior Annie Beasley, but CMU would pull back out in front with four straight points of its own. The teams traded points and leads for much of the set, with neither side able to break free from the other. The four lead changes were the most of the night and, eventually, Toledo was able to come out on top 25-20 to force a fifth set. Kleespies had a whopping seven kills in the fourth set, including a big one to bring about set point. UT hit .270 in this frame, the highest of the match for the Midnight Blue and Gold.

Fifth Set
The Chippewas scored the first three points of the final frame and didn't look back from there. The Rockets fell behind 9-3 and, despite bringing it to within three (14-11) the hole was too big to climb out of. CMU would go on to win the set 15-11 and take the match, dropping Toledo to 0-1 in MAC play.