TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo volleyball team opens its 2020-21 season this weekend when it hosts Western Michigan on Friday and Saturday at Savage Arena.

Friday's match is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. start and Saturday's contest will begin at 5:00 p.m. Both matches will be available on ESPN3. Links for live stats and live streams are below, and you can also follow the action on Twitter at @Toledo_VB.

Toledo vs. Western Michigan | Friday | 6:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch
Toledo vs. Western Michigan | Saturday | 5:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch

The Rockets will play a 22-match regular season against Mid-American Conference opponents. The schedule features 10 two-match weekend series against each MAC program except Bowling Green; UT and BGSU will face off in a home-and-home series on consecutive Tuesdays. The MAC Tournament is scheduled for April 2-3 at the site of the team with the best overall record.

2019 Year In Review
The Rockets started out the 2019 season strong, but stumbled heading into conference play in a year that ended with a 9-19 record and a 2-14 mark in league contests.

After starting the year 0-2, Toledo rattled off six straight wins and at one point won 12 consecutive sets to bring its record to 6-2. That stretch included a 3-0 outing at the Radford Invitational, the first time the Rockets swept a non-conference tournament since 2011.

Toledo's two MAC victories came on the road against division foes Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.

New Faces
The Rockets will feature several new faces this season. True freshmen Taylor Alt (Ottawa, Ohio), Claire Eiden (Ottawa, Ohio), and Payton Morman (Bowling Green, Ohio); sophomore transfer from West Virginia Rhyenne Filisi; and redshirt freshmen Jada Bouyer, Abby Erickson, and Rachel Pierce. Alt and Eiden were teammates at Ottawa-Glandorf High School.

Quick Hits

• Toledo returns all but one letterwinner from the 2019 squad.
• The last match the Rockets played was on Nov. 16, 2019, making it 434 days in between contests.
• The Rockets return their 2019 leader in kills (senior Chloee Kleespies, 2.65 kills/set), digs (Neal, 4.31 digs/set) and assists (Megan Beasley, 7.81 assists/set).
• Senior DS/L Rhyen Neal has been a steady force in the Rockets' lineup ever since she stepped on campus as a freshman in 2017. Neal has played in 238 straight sets dating back to her freshman season. She has not missed a set since Oct. 21, 2017 in a match against Bowling Green. She has also played in every match since coming to Toledo.

 
Last Time Out against WMU
The Rockets and Broncos split their season series in 2019. WMU swept UT at Savage Arena, hitting .317 en route to a 3-0 victory. Toledo returned the favor in Kalamazoo later in the season, outlasting Western Michigan in a five-set thriller. The Rockets led 8-3 to open the decisive fifth set before allowing the Broncos to come back and take an 11-10 advantage. UT held strong and ended up taking the final set 15-12 to cap a 2-0 weekend.