Rockets Fall to Zips in Five Sets

Saturday, October 6

Akron, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

7-10, 2-4MAC

Akron

10-7, 2-4MAC

Toledo

Akron

Chloee Kleespies tallied a match-high 18 kills in the loss to Akron on Saturday night.

10/6/2018 10:35:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Akron, Ohio — The University of Toledo women's volleyball team dropped its Saturday night contest against the Akron Zips in five sets.

Toledo dropped the first game, then won sets two and three, but the Zips won big in set four and took the final frame to come away with the victory.

Chloee Kleespies registered a match-high 18 kills, while Alexis Falzone tallied 12 terminations and hit .357. Carly Townsend was credited with 50 assists and double-digit digs were recorded by Maurissa Leonard (27) and Rhyen Neal (19, a career-high).

"I give credit to Akron," head coach Jason Oliver said. "They played with a confidence that put them over the top. Our team played well enough on the road to win and we will find a way to win these tight moments in the future. I have no doubt in the character of our leaders and we will learn from this moving forward."

Next up for the Rockets are two home matches next weekend. Toledo hosts Kent State and Ohio on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Set 1 (Akron, 25-22)
Akron jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but Toledo grabbed the momentum and took a 6-5 advantage. In a back-and-forth set, the two squads found themselves tied 12 times, including as late as 19-19. The Zips would score three straight points, though, to take a 22-19 lead. They also accounted for the final two points of the set to come away with a 25-22 win.

Set 2 (UT, 25-18)
Set two was just as hotly contested as the first, featuring 11 tie scores and five lead changes. Toledo took a 5-2 lead to kick things off, but the Zips scored six of the next seven points to grab an 8-6 advantage over UT. It was another battle between the two MAC foes that came to a head at a 17-17 tie, but it was at that point that the Rockets took the reins. Toledo dominated the final stages of the second set, scoring eight of the final nine points to win, 25-18. Elise Wilcox and Zoe Birnbrich came up big with some clutch plays, while Emma Swope's termination put an emphatic end to the second frame. Toledo hit .400 compared to the Zips' .118.

Set 3 (UT, 25-20)
The third set was a little bit of a different story than its two predecessors. Once the Rockets grabbed the lead at 11-5, it appeared they would cruise to a victory and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Toledo's lead ballooned to 24-14, but the Zips did not go down without a fight. They scored six straight points to put a scare into the Rockets, but a big kill from Wilcox sealed the deal and put Toledo one set away from its third MAC win of the season.

Set 4 (Akron, 25-15)
Set four was all Akron. After scoring the first four points of the set, the Zips built a sizeable 13-3 lead to take control of the fourth frame. Toledo never held a share of the lead in the penultimate set and would end up losing 25-15. Akron hit a whopping .344, while the Rockets had their worst hitting performance of the evening (-.029).

Set 5 (Akron, 15-11)
The Zips once again took an early lead, scoring five of the first six points. But Toledo went on an offensive run, scoring seven of the next eight points and giving the Midnight Blue & Gold an 8-6 advantage. But that would be the last time the Rockets found themselves in front of the Zips. Akron scored six of the last eight points of the match to win the set and the match.