TOLEDO, Ohio— Conference play starts this week for the University of Toledo volleyball team, as the Rockets host Ball State on Thursday and visit Buffalo on Saturday.

Toledo's match with the Cardinals will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Savage Arena on Thursday night, and the Saturday contest with the Bulls will start at 6:00 p.m. in Buffalo. Thursday's match will be available on ESPN+. Links for live stats and live streams are available below, and updates are also be available on Twitter at @Toledo_VB.

Toledo vs. Ball State, 7:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch
Toledo at Buffalo, 6:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch

Last Time Out
Toledo participated in the Beale Street Challenge last weekend, hosted by the Memphis Tigers, and went 1-2. The victory came in a three-set sweep of North Alabama, while the losses both came in four sets to the Tigers and Southeast Missouri State. Zoe Birnbrich was an All-Tournament Team selection, hitting .397 and averaging 3.09 kills/set. Emma Swope averaged 4.00 kills/set last weekend as well.

Ace!
In the win over North Alabama, Toledo's service game was particularly excellent.

The Rockets tallied 18 service aces, the most in a match since 2008 when they had 19 against Buffalo. It was the seventh match in program history with at least 18 aces. Emma Swope had seven aces, the 15^th time a Toledo player has ever had that many in a match, while Elise Wilcox added six. At one point in the first set, Swope recorded five aces in a row, and Wilcox had four in a row at one point in the second set.
 
Quick Hits

• Toledo is hitting .229 as a team, the best in the MAC. The Rockets also lead the conference in service aces/set (1.6).
• Toledo's 18-ace performance against North Alabama is the fourth-highest single-match service ace total by a Division I team this season. Appalachian State had 23 in a match against Arizona, Liberty had 22 in a match against Virginia Tech, and NC State had 19 against Kansas State.
• Zoe Birnbrich has hit at least .400 in her last eight matches, and in 10 of 12 contests this season.
• Emma Swope had 21 kills last weekend at Memphis, making her one of eight MAC players this season to have at least 21 kills in a match.

Scouting the Opponents
Ball State: The Cardinals swept the season series last year against Toledo and they are 6-6 this year entering MAC play. They ended their non-conference slate with a home tournament last weekend and went 2-1, earning wins over Austin Peay and Missouri State.  Sydnee VanBeek is tied for second in the MAC in blocks (1.14/set).

Buffalo: UB is 4-8 entering the weekend and will host Akron on Thurday to kick off MAC play. The Bulls also won two out of three at home last weekend, defeating St. Francis (Pa.) and Canisius. Buffalo is second in the MAC in blocks (2.11/set) and has also allowed the second-fewest blocks (1.85/set). Lexi Nordmann is tied for second in the conference in blocks (1.14) and is also among the individual leaders in hitting (.333).