Toledo, Ohio — The University of Toledo women's volleyball team fell to Morehead State on Friday night, 3-1, in its first home match of the season.
After tying the match at 1-1, the Rockets dropped the final two sets to end up on the wrong end of Friday's decision.
Chloee Kleespies recorded a team-high 15 kills while
Zoe Birnbrich added 11.
Carly Townsend provided 41 assists for the Midnight Blue and Gold while both
Maurissa Leonard (27) and
Rhyen Neal (10) cracked double digits in digs.
Alexis Falzone had a good night as well, hitting .304 with nine kills and four block assists.
Prior to the match, head coach
Jason Oliver was presented with a ball from athletic director
Mike O'Brien commemorating his first win at Toledo. Oliver earned his first UT victory last weekend against Western Illinois.
Â
The Blue & Gold Invitational continues tomorrow with four matches at Savage Arena. Toledo hosts Duquesne at Noon and wraps up the tournament with a matchup against Manhattan at 7:00 p.m. Morehead State and Manhattan face off at 10:00 a.m. to start competition and the Eagles will play the Dukes at 5:00 p.m.
Set 1
The Rockets started the match with an exclamation point when Kleespies delivered a solo block to put her team ahead, 1-0. Unfortunately, Toledo would not lead again in the set. Morehead State took a 6-2 lead and then, when UT pulled within one, 11-10, the Eagles scored five consecutive points to jump ahead, 16-10. UT surrendered five of the set's final six points en route to a 25-16 final score. Morehead State hit .417 in the first set.
Set 2
The second ended with the same score as the first, but in reverse. UT dominated the early stages, taking an 8-2 lead that included a 6-0 run. Toledo led by as many as 11, 21-10, and cruise to a nine-point second set win to even the match at 1-1. Kleespies tallied four kills and Falzone registered three of her four blocks in the second set to pace the Rockets.
Set 3
The third set was the closest of the night, featuring 13 tie scores; the other three sets had four ties combined. The two squads traded points for pretty much the entire game, and neither team had a lead larger than two until the Rockets took an 18-15 advantage after scoring three straight. Morehead State flipped the script, though, and scored nine of the final 12 points to storm back and win, 25-22, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set 4
Toledo struggled coming out of the gates in what would end up being the final set of the evening. After trailing 1-0, the Eagles scored seven straight to take a commanding 7-1 lead and they didn't look back. The Rockets were able to pull within three, 15-12, but that's the closest they'd get. Morehead State took control down the stretch to win 25-18 and clinch a 3-1 set victory.
Â
