Rockets Visit NIU for Two Matches

Thursday, January 28

DeKalb, Ill.

6:00 p.m. CT

University of Toledo

Northern Illinois

Toledo visits Northern Illinois for its first road matches of the season on Thursday and Friday.

Photo by: Haley Boehm

1/27/2021 12:35:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes (PDF)

TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo volleyball team hits the road for two matches at Northern Illinois. The Rockets and Huskies play Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. ET and Friday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. ET

Thursday's match will be streamed live on ESPN3. Links for live stats and the live stream are below, and you can also follow the action on Twitter at @Toledo_VB.

Toledo at Northern Illinois | Thursday | 7:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch
Toledo at Northern Illinois | Friday | 5:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats

Last Time Out
Toledo opened its regular season last weekend with two home matches against Western Michigan. In the first match against WMU, the Rockets forced a fifth set after falling behind 2-1, but they were unable to topple the Broncos in the final frame. Freshman Taylor Alt was outstanding, recording 21 kills in her collegiate debut. Fellow rookie Payton Morman started at setter and contributed 48 assists. Toledo registered 20 team blocks, one of the highest single-match outputs in program history. Sophomore Olivia Vance tied a career high with eight rejections. Western Michigan swept UT in three sets on Saturday. Morman was credited with 25 assists and Vance led the team with nine kills while hitting .316.

Quick Hits

Alt's 21 kills on Friday were the most by a MAC player last weekend.
Toledo's 20 team blocks in the season opener were the second-most in the country in a five-set match this season (Georgia Southern had 27 team blocks on Nov. 18 against Troy).
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 246 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.
Neal sits at 970 career digs entering the weekend, needing just 30 to eclipse 1,000 career digs.

Scouting the Opponent
Northern Illinois lost both of its matches against Bowling Green last weekend. NIU took BGSU to five sets on Friday before suffering a three-set sweep on Saturday. The Huskies are led by JoDee Kovanda, who averaged 2.75 kills/set last weekend and hit .345 while contributing 1.00 block/set. Katie Jablonski added 2.12 kills/set and 2.25 digs/set. As a team, Northern Illinois hit .171 while allowing Bowling Green to hit .278 against them.