Tournament Page

Toledo, Ohio – Another weekend, another tournament for the Toledo women's volleyball team. The Rockets head out to Huntington, W. Va. this weekend for the Thunder Invite where they'll face tournament host Marshall as well as Maryland and Virginia Tech.

Friday, Sept. 8 (4:30 p.m.): Maryland vs. Toledo | Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 9 (1:00 p.m.): Toledo at Marshall | Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 9 (5:00 p.m.) Virginia Tech vs. Toledo | Live Stats

Last Time Out
Toledo played in front of the home crowd at Savage Arena for the first time this season as a part of the BG/UT Invitational. After beating Southeastern Louisiana Friday morning, UT fell to VCU and Notre Dame to close out the weekend. Freshman outside hitter Emma Swope was named to the All-Tournament team.

Swope tallied a team-high 30 kills over the course of the three games, including a career-best 16 against VCU. Junior libero Maurissa Leonard also had a great weekend, averaging 5.7 digs per set. Senior setter Brianna Foster stepped up big and had 93 assists for Toledo during the tournament.

Leading the way in the three-set sweep over the Lions was senior outside hitter Saige Thomas (nine kills), Foster (17 assists), and Leonard (19 digs, a match-high). As a team, the Rockets had a season-best nine service aces against the Southeastern.

Leonard Named MAC West Player of the Week
After a fantastic weekend during the BG/UT Invitational, the junior libero was named MAC West Defensive Player of the Week for the fifth time in her career. For the season, Leonard is averaging 4.54 digs per set, which is the most on the Rockets and fourth-most in the MAC.

By the Numbers
Here are some notable numbers for Toledo:

• The Rockets are second in the MAC with 2.43 blocks per set. Senior middle hitter Annie Beasley and her 21 total blocks lead UT.
• Freshman defensive specialist Rhyen Neal has a team-high nine aces so far, which is top five in the MAC. As a team, the Rockets have fired in 34 aces, fourth-most in the MAC.
• Swope is second on the team with 60 kills, having recorded exactly 30 in each of the first two weekends of competition.
• Foster made her first starts of the season last weekend against VCU and Notre Dame and really stepped up, tallying 42 assists against the Rams and 34 against the Fighting Irish, both of which were match-highs.

Scouting the Competition
Maryland: The Terrapins are a perfect 6-0 to start the season thanks to 3-0 weekends at their own tournament and the Liberty Invitational. At the Maryland Invite they defeated UMBC, Northeastern, and Temple, and at the Liberty Invitational they defeated the tournament hosts as well as Elon and Furman. Maryland is one of 29 teams in the country still undefeated.

As a team they have hit .291 this season, 17^th-best percentage in the NCAA so far. Erika Pritchard is the team leader with 77 kills and 13 service aces, the latter of which is the most in the Big Ten. Both Samantha Snyder (146) and Taylor Smith (120) have been big contributors in the assist column, while Kelsey Wicinski is currently the Big Ten leader in digs (120) and digs/set (5.00).

Marshall: The tournament hosts will enter the weekend with a 2-6 record, having beaten Morehead State and San Diego State. The Thundering Herd started the year off with a tournament at Austin Peay and played in the Spartan Invite last weekend, with the win against Morehead sandwiched in between. In a midweek matchup against MAC foe Ohio, Marshall lost 3-1.

Jac'cara Walker is the team's offensive leader; she is averaging 4.12 kills per set and she also leads the team with seven aces. Jessa Long and her 101 digs are the most for Marshall this year, while Addisyn Rowe is tops on the team with 24 total blocks.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies own a record of 5-1, with the only loss coming to Ole Miss last weekend at the Arkansas State tournament. VT beat the hosting Red Wolves in addition to SMU to finish last weekend 2-1. Virginia Tech started the season 3-0 after a perfect weekend at the Pepsi Panther Invitational, where it defeated Milwaukee, South Dakota State and Idaho State.

After two weekends' worth of matches, the Hokies are number one in the ACC in hitting (.270) and kills (335); Kaity Smith is the top attacker, averaging 4.04 kills/set. Rhegan Mitchell has been their top setter so far, averaging 10.96 assists/set which is the highest rate in the ACC.

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.

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.