TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's volleyball team capped a 2-0 weekend with a victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday. The Rockets took down the Eagles in four sets.
Following the match, Toledo recognized four seniors as a part of its Senior Day festivities. Liz Beasley, Megan Beasley, Maddie Fogg, and Rhyen Neal were all honored following the Rockets' convincing win over EMU.
After the Eagles won the first set, Toledo captured the next three sets to win 3-1 and improve to 18-9 (9-6 MAC) on the season. EMU falls to 9-17 (4-11 MAC) with the loss. Toledo's 18 victories are the most since 2013, when UT went 19-12 on its way to finishing in a tie atop the MAC West Division.Â
Junior Sina Uluave stuffed the box score on Saturday, tallying 14 digs, nine kills, and a career-high eight service aces. Sophomore Taylor Alt led all players with 18 kills and Neal led all comers with 20 digs. Junior Olivia Vance contributed 10 kills and a pair of blocks, and freshman Elaine Redman collected 37 assists.
Toledo visits Central Michigan next weekend before hosting Ball State on Wednesday, Nov. 17 for its final regular season match.
1st Set (25-22, Eastern Michigan)
The first set of Saturday's match was the only one Eastern Michigan won all weekend, though Toledo hung around until the very end. Trailing 18-17, UT rattled off three straight points to take a two-point lead at 20-18. EMU fought back to tie the score at 20-20, then a kill from Alt put the Rockets ahead by one. Eastern Michigan scored the next two points and, after a kill from Toledo sophomore Rachel Pierce tied the score at 22-22, EMU scored the next three points to win 25-22 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
2nd Set (25-18, Toledo)
The Rockets scored the first three points of the second set to take an early lead, but Eastern Michigan was able to fight back and tie the score at 12-12. An EMU block gave them a 13-12 lead, and after a service error the Eagles tallied another block to take a 14-13 lead. That would be the final time Eastern Michigan would hold the lead for the remainder of the match. Toledo scored the next eight points to take a commanding 21-14 lead, and Vance registered a kill for the 25th point to tie the match at 1-1. Uluave collected four of her kills and two of her service aces in the second set.
3rd Set (25-16, Toledo)
Toledo led wire-to-wire in the third set, hitting .400 on its way to a 25-16 win. The set started with three straight UT points, and the Midnight Blue and Gold were able to grow their lead to 11-4. Eastern Michigan chipped away at its sizable deficit a bit, but never got closer than four points, 14-10. The Rockets scored the next four points to make it 18-10 and cruised to a nine-point victory in set three to push the Eagles to the brink. Alt was terrific in the third set, tallying six kills.
4th Set (25-10, Toledo)
The Rockets were nothing short of dominant in the fourth set, hitting .400 and controlling the game from the outset. Toledo used a 12-0 run to take a staggering 16-3 lead at one point; 14 of the first 16 points UT scored were off a kill, ace, or block, with only two points coming via Eastern Michigan errors. The fourth set was never in doubt as the Rockets completely dominated in every facet, hitting .400 while holding EMU to a -.062 attack percentage. When it was all said and done Toledo won 25-10 to clinch a 2-0 weekend.
