Oxford, Ohio— The University of Toledo women's volleyball team dropped its Saturday evening match at Miami in four sets.

After losing the first two sets, the Rockets won the third frame handily to stay alive before succumbing in the fourth set to the RedHawks.

Zoe Birnbrich was terrific on Saturday. She tallied a match-high 19 kills and hit .429, including an eight-kill performance in the third set. Elise Wilcox recorded a career-best 12 kills and four Rockets reached double-digit digs: Maurissa Leonard (28), Andrea Stephenson (12), Rhyen Neal (11), and Carly Townsend (11). Townsend also added 44 assists.

"I thought we played two very good and well organized teams this weekend," head coach Jason Oliver said. "We made good strides but just didn't have enough to beat their organization and discipline. The players showed a lot of growth in our game and better poise in big moments. We have to learn how to sustain that for entire weekends."

Toledo returns home next weekend to face Western Michigan and Northern Illinois.

Set 1 (25-20 MU)
The RedHawks scored the first three points and never looked back; they held the lead the entire set. Toledo tied the score at 5-5, but Miami went on a 10-4 run to jump ahead, 15-9. UT was able to pull as close as two, but the RedHawks finished strong to win 25-20.

Set 2 (25-22 MU)
The second set was a little closer than the first and saw the Rockets take their first lead of the evening. Birnbrich recorded a termination for the first score and Leonard's service ace gave UT a 2-0 lead. There were a match-high seven tie scores in the second frame, and Toledo held a share of the lead as late as 16-16, but Miami's Sarah Wojick recorded a termination to make it 17-16 and give her team the lead for good. After two sets, Toledo found itself down 2-0 in Oxford.

Set 3 (25-17 UT)
The Rockets dominated the third set from start to finish. They hit .471 as a team, Birnbrich and Chloee Kleespies combined for 14 kills and hit .609 as a tandem. Toledo started out leading 9-3, three of which came from Wilcox. Miami pulled within three, 15-12, but Toledo ripped off a 7-2 run to take a commanding 22-14 lead. Two kills from Birnbrich and a service error sealed the deal for the Rockets and kept them alive.

Set 4 (25-17 MU)
The final set was the worst for in terms of hitting percentage for both teams. Toledo led 4-1 and looked to be in good shape towards forcing a fifth set. Leading 10-8, the Rockets surrendered 12 of the next 16 points to fall behind 20-14. That was enough to flip the momentum in the direction of Miami, which clinched the match with a 25-17 fourth set victory.