DEKALB, Ill. – The University of Toledo volleyball team won its first match of the season on Friday, sweeping Northern Illinois in three sets.
The Rockets won the first two sets by identical 25-21 scores, then led wire-to-wire in the third set (25-18) to cruise to their first win of the season. UT outhit NIU .294 to .147 on Friday night.
"We found a way to respond and that says volumes about the maturing process we are going through," head coach Jason Oliver said. "We had some players step up and make some big time plays and we are starting to meet some performance standards. Today was a good step in the right direction. Now we need to get better this week."
Freshman Taylor Alt led all comers with 17 kills, the second-most kills in a three-set match by a freshman in the country this season. Sophomore Olivia Vance added 12 kills and two blocks, while freshman setter Payton Morman turned in another good performance with 39 assists. Sophomore Ryann Jaqua started her second straight match at libero and contributed 26 digs.
The Rockets return home next week for two home matches against Ball State on Thursday and Friday.
1st Set (Toledo, 25-21)
The Huskies grabbed an early 7-4 lead, but Toledo scored the next five points to turn a three-point deficit into a two-point advantage. Holding a 14-11 lead, the Rockets were the victims of an 8-4 run that put the Huskies up by one. UT found itself trailing late, 21-19, but scored the final six points of the set to win 25-21 and take a 1-0 lead in the match. Vance was terrific in the first frame, registering four terminations and a block. Jaqua had 12 digs in the first set, the highest single-set total by anyone all night.
2nd Set (Toledo, 25-21)
After fighting to a 4-4 deadlock to start the set, Northern Illinois went on an 8-1 run to take a 12-5 lead over Toledo. Trailing 17-14, the Rockets hit the gas and scored the next seven points to go up 21-17. The rally started with a service error from NIU, then was aided by two kills and a block from Alt. UT opened up a 24-20 lead and, after allowing two points from the Huskies to close the gap a bit, netted the 25th point on an NIU service error to go up 2-0 in the match.
3rd Set (Toledo, 25-18)
The Rockets got off to a hot start in the third set, taking a 6-0 early lead. Sophomore Rhyenne Filisi accounted for half of those points with two kills and a block. NIU got within two, 12-10, but Toledo recorded 10 of the next 12 point to take a commanding 22-12 lead and didn't look back. The Rockets did not trail at any point in the third set en route to a 25-18 win to clinch the sweep. Alt was outstanding in the final period, notching eight terminations while hitting .500.
