Toledo, Ohio— The University of Toledo women's volleyball team begins conference play this weekend with matches at Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.

The Rockets travel to DeKalb, Ill. to face the Huskies on Friday at 8:00 p.m. ET before heading to Kalamazoo, Mich. to take on the Broncos on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

Toledo at NIU, 8:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats
Toledo at WMU, 7:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats | ESPN+

Carly Townsend Named MAC West Setter of the Week
Senior Carly Townsend helped the Rockets win both of their matches in five sets last Saturday, when UT defeated Bucknell and Youngstown State at the Zips Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Her efforts led to her being named MAC West Setter of the Week on Monday.

The Germantown, Wis. native was excellent against the Bison and Penguins, averaging 11.1 assists per set over the course of both matches. Townsend tallied 54 assists in the first match against Bucknell and 57 against YSU, both of which were played consecutively. She also contributed offensively, adding two kills and three blocks against the Bison, plus four kills and two blocks against YSU.


Quick Hits

• Maurissa Leonard still leads the nation in digs per set, averaging 6.32 per frame. She is closing in on 2,000 career digs, with her current total sitting at 1,919. She would become the 15th player in MAC history to reach 2,000 career digs.
• The four-match winning streak is the longest for UT since 2016 (8/27-9/3), during which the Rockets defeated Wright State, SIUE, Penn, and North Florida.
• As a team, Toledo ranks 10th nationally in attacks per set (38.66) and 11th nationally with its 17.95 digs per set average.
• Zoe Birnbrich has been an efficient offensive threat. She ranks second in the MAC in hitting percentage (.364) and is also averaging 3.09 kills per set, eighth in the conference.

Scouting the Opponent
Northern Illinois: The Huskies enter the weekend 2-13, having defeated Milwaukee and Marshall. NIU has played the MAC's toughest schedule to date and has lost six in a row. They rank in the bottom-third in the MAC in both hitting percentage and kills per set. Meg Wolowicz (660) and Jori Radtke (598) account for a whopping 65 percent of the Huskies' attack attempts and the two rank second and sixth, respectively, in the country in total attacks.

Western Michigan: WMU is 10-4 heading into the weekend and will host Ball State on Friday prior to its match with UT. The Broncos had won five matches in a row before falling to Michigan State last Saturday. Western Michigan is hitting .237, second-best in the league, and Rachel Bontrager leads the MAC with an average of 4.08 kills per set. Setter Mary Murphy is the conference's leader at 9.98 assists per set.