Rockets Fall in Five Sets at Buffalo

Saturday, September 28

Buffalo, N.Y.

6:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

7-6

Buffalo

4-9

Toledo

Buffalo

Toledo fell at Buffalo on Saturday night in five sets.

9/28/2019 9:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BUFFALO, N.Y.— The University of Toledo volleyball team and Buffalo played a hotly contested match on Saturday night, with the Rockets falling to the Bulls in five sets.

Toledo won sets one and three while UB took sets two and four. The Bulls then led wire-to-wire in the fifth set to come away with the victory.

Senior Zoe Birnbrich tallied 13 kills and hit .393 for the Rockets and had a match-high nine blocks, tying a career high. Junior Chloee Kleespies added 15 terminations and junior Emma Swope contributed 11 kills. Sophomore Megan Beasley set a new career best with 44 assists and junior Rhyen Neal led the team with 15 digs.

Toledo (7-7, 0-2 MAC) returns home for a pair of conference matches next weekend, hosting Western Michigan on Friday and Northern Illinois on Saturday.

Set 1 (Toledo, 25-16)
The Rockets scored the first point of the match and didn't look back in the first set; Buffalo never held a share of the lead at any point. Toledo hit .389 in the first frame and held UB to a hitting percentage of .071. Toledo ended things on a high note, scoring six of the last eight, with a kill from Swope putting the finishing touches on a dominant set.

Set 2 (Buffalo, 25-20)
Buffalo came out firing in the second frame, scoring the first five points. The Rockets were able to take a lead though, scoring six points in a row to jump ahead 9-8. Buffalo responded with six straight points of its own, and from that point on Toledo was unable wrestle back a share of the lead. The Bulls ended up winning, 25-20, to tie the match at 1-1.

Set 3 (Toledo, 25-23)
The tightest set of the night. Toledo and Buffalo were tied 17 times during the third frame. Tied at 18-18, Toledo scored twice to take a two point lead. The Bulls fought back and tied the score at 23-23, but the Rockets held strong. Birnbrich and Megan Beasley combined for a block to bring about set point, then Birnbrich slammed one home for the 25^th point and gave Toledo a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set 4 (Buffalo, 25-23)
The Bulls once again started off with the lead, scoring the first three points of the fourth set. With the score tied at 18-18, Buffalo scored three in a row to go up, 21-18. Opposite of the third set, this time Toledo clawed its way back to tie the score at 23-23. The Bulls used a block and a service ace to tally the final two points to win and force a decisive fifth set.

Set 5 (Buffalo, 15-12)
The Bulls started the fifth set with four straight points and didn't look back from there. The score was tied at 11-11, but UB scored four of the next five to win the match in five.