TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's volleyball team lost to Kent State at home on Saturday in three sets.

The Golden Flashes (7-1, 7-1 MAC) dominated early, winning the first set 25-12, but Toledo (2-5, 2-5 MAC) hung around in the final two sets (25-23, 25-20)..

"Kent State came in and executed high-level volleyball," assistant coach Evan Antal said. "We will continue to grow as a team and learn from this match. We have another opportunity to test ourselves tomorrow and we look forward to the challenge."

The Rockets were without head coach Jason Oliver on Saturday after the birth of his twin daughters last weekend.

Seniors Chloee Kleespies and Emma Swope both had a team-high seven kills, with Kleespies hitting .400 (7-1-15) on the afternoon. Junior Megan Beasley served as the primary setter for the second and third sets and tallied 18 assists. Senior Rhyen Neal added 11 digs as well. Redshirt freshman Jada Bouyer recorded six kills and a block in her Toledo debut. .

Kent State's Savannah Matthews helped lead her team to the win with 17 kills while hitting .536 (17-2-28).

These two teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m.

1^st Set (Kent State, 25-12)

The Golden Flashes led wire-to-wire in the first set and hit. 500 to cruise to a 25-12 win. They took an 11-4 lead that prompted Toledo to use its first timeout and widened their lead with a 10-2 run to jump ahead 22-9. The Rockets scored three points near the end, but they proved inconsequential in the outcome of the first set as Kent State took a 1-0 lead in the match.

2^nd Set (Kent State, 25-23)

The second set was the closest of the day, with Toledo and Kent State trading points for much of the action. With the score tied at 15-15, junior Elise Wilcox's termination provided the go-ahead point to put the Rockets ahead, 16-15.  That was the last lead of the set for Toledo, though, as Kent State scored four in a row to move ahead, 19-16. The Rockets made it interesting late in the set, using a 6-1 run to turn a 23-18 deficit into a 24-23 score that appeared to shift momentum to the Midnight Blue and Gold bench. The Golden Flashes snuffed out the Rockets' comeback attempt though, scoring the 25^th and final point to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

3^rd Set (Kent State, 25-20)

Toledo scored the first two points of the third set on a kill from sophomore Rhyenne Filisi and a block off the hands of Bouyer and Wilcox to take an early lead. The Rockets kept pace with the Golden Flashes early, but with the score tied at 10-10 KSU put the pedal to the metal, scoring 11 of the next 13 points to turn a stalemate into a nine-point lead. Toledo made things interesting late by pulling within four, 24-20, but Kent State's Matthews capped her excellent match with the clinching kill to end the third set.