TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's volleyball team returns home to host Ball State on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday's match is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN+ and Friday's contest will begin at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN3. Links for live stats and the live streams are below, and you can also follow the action on Twitter at @Toledo_VB.

Toledo vs. Ball State | Thursday | 6:00 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch
Toledo vs. Ball State | Friday | 4:30 p.m. ET | Live Stats | Watch

Last Time Out
The Rockets split their two-game series at Northern Illinois last week.

In Thursday's five-set loss at NIU, Toledo led statistically in every category except sets won. Trailing 2-1 in the match, the Rockets used an astounding 15-0 run to seize control of the fourth set (25-16) and force a fifth frame. UT and NIU kept pace with each other in the fifth set, but the Huskies ultimately came out on top, 15-13, to hand Toledo its second five-set loss of the season. Ryann Jaqua added a career-high 30 digs and Payton Morman collected 55 assists.

Friday's three-set victory was UT's first win of the season. 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. 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. Jaqua registered a match-best 26 digs and Morman was excellent once again in a 39-assist performance.

Quick Hits

• Toledo leads the MAC in blocks/set (2.75) and ranks 20^th in the country. Olivia Vance is averaging 1.19 blocks/set, third-best in the conference.
• Payton Morman is third in the MAC in assists/set (10.44) among qualified players, and she ranks fourth in the country in that category among freshmen setters.
• Toledo had 20.0 in its season-opening match against Western Michigan, the second-highest total by a team in a five-set match in the entire country this year.
• The Rockets have held opponents to a .171 hitting percentage through four matches, third-lowest in the conference.

 
 
Ryann Jaqua Named MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Ryann Jaqua has been named Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday. The Kalamazoo, Mich. native averaged 7.00 digs/set across two matches at Northern Illinois last weekend. Jaqua started both contests at libero, her first two career starts at the position. She registered a career-high 30 digs in Thursday's five-setter against the Huskies and tallied 26 in the Rockets' three-set victory on Friday. Jaqua's 30 and 26-dig performances are two of the six highest single-match dig totals by a MAC player this season. In four matches this year, Jaqua is averaging 4.53 digs/set, which ranks seventh in the MAC.


Scouting the Opponent
Ball State is 4-0 entering this week's series, sweeping Akron and Buffalo to start the season and losing just one set through four matches. The Cardinals are forcing opponents to hit just .095, tops in the MAC and ninth in the nation, and on the offensive end they are hitting .282, second-highest hitting percentage in the league. Marie Plitt leads the team in hitting (.404) and is averaging 2.15 kills/set. Kia Holder (3.31 kills/set) and Natalie Mitchem (3.08) are Ball State's leaders in terminations