Box Score HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – On day one of the Thunder Invite, Toledo volleyball battled undefeated Maryland of the Big Ten Conference all the way until the end before falling in five sets (25-22, 13-25, 25-16, 22-25, 12-15) on Friday night inside the Cam Henderson Center.

Leading the way for the Rockets offensively was senior Saige Thomas with 15 kills. It's the fourth time this season that Thomas has eclipsed the double-digit kill mark. Right behind Thomas was freshman Emma Swope who collected 14 kills with a .256 attack percentage.

Senior Brianna Foster notched her first career double-double with 41 assists and 10 digs. It is the fourth double-double of the season for Toledo and third different player to do so. In her second contest of the season, freshman Chloee Kleesies collected a career-high six kills while recording an attack percentage of .250.  

As a team, the Midnight Blue and Gold hit .204 with 52 kills and had a total of six blocks. It was Toledo's third five-set match of the season and 55^th since 2010, the most in the Mid-American Conference.

The defeat drops Toledo's overall record to 2-5 while Maryland advances to 7-0 and is one of only 29 teams in the country to be undefeated.

The Midnight Blue and Gold return to action on Saturday, Sept. 9 with a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. against host school Marshall. UT ends the Thunder Invite with a match-up against Virginia Tech at 5:30 p.m.

First Set:
It was all Toledo in the first set as the Rockets quickly jumped out to an 8-1 lead after scoring on their first seven kill attempts. UT forced a Maryland timeout later in the set after scoring six straight points and nine of 12 to take a commanding 18-7 lead.  However, Maryland rallied to cut the lead to two after scoring 10 of 12 points to cut the UT lead to 21-18. Down the stretch, UT pulled away, scoring the final two points off of a Maryland attack error and a kill by freshman Emma Swope for the 25-22 first set victory.

Second Set:
After Maryland took their first lead of the match at 5-4, the Terrapins never looked back, bursting out to a 17-7 lead. The Maryland lead only continued to grow in the second as they jumped out to a 21-9 lead behind a stellar .345 attack percentage. Maryland's Erika Pritchard had five of her 16 kills in the second to give Maryland a 25-13 second set victory and tie the match at 1-1.

Third Set:
Back and forth the Terps and Rockets went in the third set as neither team early on was able to take control of the set. Four straight points by the Rockets helped UT to an 11-8 lead before Maryland out of a timeout rallied with three straight to tie the match up.
From that point on, it was all Toledo as they scored 10 of the next 11 points to take a commanding lead. Down the stretch, UT had a rally of six straight points and won 14 of the next 18 points to earn the third set victory, 25-16.

Fourth Set:
Maryland never trailed in the fourth set as they cruised to an early 6-1 lead to begin the set. Midway through the Terps were in control with an 18-11 lead before UT scored four straight points to cut the lead to three. After trading points, the Rockets rattled off five straight to give Maryland a slim 23-22 lead. The Terps grabbed the final two points to force a fifth set.

Fifth Set:
In the final set, Maryland never relinquished the lead after scoring the first three points to keep their undefeated record intact. Late in the match, UT tied the match at 12 after back-to-back kills from Thomas and Kleespies. However, that was as close as the Rockets got as Maryland won the final three points to take the set and the match.