TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's volleyball team wrapped up its regular season on Wednesday night at home, falling to Ball State in three sets.
With the regular season now over, the Rockets will set their sights on the 2021 MAC Tournament. Toledo (19-11, 10-8 MAC)Â will be the No. 5 seed in next week's tournament and will face No. 4 Western Michigan on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 4:30 p.m. The winner of that game will play No. 1 seed and MAC Regular Season Champions Ball State on Monday, Nov. 22 at 4:30 p.m.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 3 Ohio will host No. 6 Northern Illinois on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. with the winner moving on the face No. 2 Bowling Green on Monday at 7:00 p.m. The championship match will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 4:30 p.m.
This will be the first MAC Tournament appearance for the Rockets since 2016.
Toledo had two players reach double-digit kills on Wednesday, with sophomore Taylor Alt leading the way with 16 terminations. Sophomore Sina Uluave added 11 kills, while senior Rhyen Neal collected a team-high 17 digs. Freshman Elaine Redman added 36 assists.
1st Set (25-23, Ball State)
The first set was maybe the closest the night, featuring eight lead changes. With the score tied at 17-17, Ball State scored to take an 18-17 advantage, but the Rockets were able to score the next three points and make it 20-18. Sophomore Abby Erickson tied the score at 18-18 with a kill, then had another to give UT the lead, then Alt's termination put her team ahead by two. Ball State battled back to score four of the next five points and take a 22-21 lead, but an attack error from the Cardinals brought the score to another stalemate at 22-22. Alt gave Toledo a lead, 23-22, with a clutch kill, but Ball State scored the next three points to win the first set and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
2nd Set (25-20, Ball State)
The Cardinals opened the second set with a 5-1 lead and didn't look back; they never trailed in the second set en route to taking a 2-0 lead in the match. Toledo closed the gap a bit near the midpoint of the second stanza, scoring four straight points to cut the deficit to four, 16-12, but could not overtake the Cardinals.
3rd Set (25-22, Ball State)
Toledo looked to be in a good position to extend the match, taking a late 20-18 lead after a block off the hands of junior Olivia Vance. But Ball State would go on to score the next four points to turn a two-point deficit into a two-point lead, 22-20. The Rockets appeared to pull within a point late, 24-23, but the Cardinals challenged the call on the court and were successful, reversing the score to 25-22 and capping a Ball State victory.
