MUNCIE, Ind. — The University of Toledo volleyball team visited Ball State on Thursday night, falling to the Cardinals in a thrilling five-set match in Muncie.

Toledo won the first set handily and Ball State comfortably won set two before a marathon third set. The Rockets faced three sets points, but scored three in a row with their backs against the wall to win the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match. BSU won a close fourth set to force a decisive fifth frame, and what a fifth set it was.

The final set of the night ended at 23-21, far and away the longest fifth set in program history since the NCAA switched to rally scoring in 2001. Fourteen ties scores and six lead changes highlighted the epic final set of the night and there were 10 match points before Ball State tallied the game-winner.

Individually, senior Zoe Birnbrich led the team with 14 kills. Freshmen Ryann Jaqua and Olivia Vance added 13, while junior Emma Swope added 10 terminations. Jaqua was credited with 13 digs for her second double-double of the season. Junior Rhyen Neal tied a career high with 29 digs to lead all players in that category. Vance also tied a career high in blocks with six.

Toledo will host Akron on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. It will be the Rockets' senior day, with a recognition of senior Zoe Birnbrich to precede the match.

Set 1 (Toledo, 25-17)
With the score tied at 10-10, Toledo pulled ahead a bit with four straight points to make it 14-10. It was the largest lead of the first set until two straight service aces from Megan Beasley put Toledo up by six, 20-14. Swope and Birnbrich tallied back-to-back kills to build the Rockets' lead to seven, 22-15, and they did not look back from there. Vance and Liz Beasley combined for a block and an emphatic 25th point in Toledo's 25-17 first set win. UT hit .367 compared to Ball State's .152. Neal had seven digs in the first set to lead all comers.

Set 2 (Ball State 25-15)
Ball State used a 6-1 run to take a 10-7 lead. BSU led for nearly the entire second set, extending its lead to 14-10 at one point. The Cardinals pulled away late, and eventually won by a score of 25-15. Whereas Toledo outhit Ball State in the first set, the roles were reversed in the second. The Cardinals hit .405 in the second frame compared to Toledo's .100.

Set 3 (Toledo, 28-26)
Toledo started quickly, scoring the first five points of the third set. The Rockets nearly led wire-to-wire, holding off the Cardinals until they scored four in a row to tie it up at 20-20. Birnbrich put Toledo back in front, but Ball State again tied the score at 21-21. A service ace gave BSU its first lead of the third set at 22-21, but neither team would give up any ground. Toledo faced set point three times until, down 26-25, Liz Beasley tied the score at 26-26 and Swope registered her two biggest kills of the match to make it 28-26 and put the Rockets up 2-1 in the match.

Set 4 (Ball State, 25-23)
The fourth set was a tug-of-war to start out. Ball State led 7-5, then Toledo scored four in a row to make it 9-7. The Cardinals pulled the score in their direction with three straight points to make it 10-9 and led until back-to-back kills from Swope tied the score at 14-14. That started off a 5-0 run that gave Toledo a 17-14 lead. Not to be outdone, Ball State fought back to tie the score at 18-18 before Swope once again used a clutch termination to give Toledo the lead, 19-18. The Cardinals started pulling away late, putting the score at 23-20. Even though UT was able to bring the score to a 23-23 tie, Ball State closed things out and won 25-23.

Set 5 (Ball State, 23-21)
Ball State came out firing, scoring the first four points of the final frame. The Rockets surged ahead to take an 8-7 lead off of a 4-0 scoring run capped by Birnbrich's service ace. BSU returned the favor, landing an ace to move ahead 10-9. Megan Beasley used another ace to make the score 14-12 and put the Rockets one point away from a victory. Ball State scored two straight to knot it up at 14-14, and from that point on the two teams were tied seven times and traded leads four times. Holding a 22-21 lead, Ball State ended the match with an ace to win 23-21 and send the Rockets home on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision.