TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's volleyball team defeated Buffalo in four sets on Saturday (25-10, 21-25, 27-25, 25-22) to complete the weekend sweep.
"This was the type of effort we have been looking for all year," head coach Jason Oliver said. "The leaders on this team really held us together and did a lot of the little things that allowed us to perform better for two days. Hopefully we are starting to mature into a team that can be consistent when it matters."
Toledo dominated the first set on Saturday, winning 25-10 to take a 1-0 lead, then the Bulls knotted the match at 1-1 after winning the second stanza. Toledo won a long third set, 27-25, before closing out the match with a fourth-set victory.
Freshman Taylor Alt capped off her terrific weekend with 22 kills, 10 digs, and three blocks. Senior Chloee Kleespies added 15 kills, five blocks, and hit .433 to help the cause in her final match at Savage Arena. Sophomore Ryann Jaqua led all players with 18 kills, and freshman Payton Morman collected 41 assists. Sophomore Olivia Vance tallied eight kills and four blocks.
After the match, the Rockets honored five student-athletes during its Senior Day ceremony. Caleigh Barhorst, Chloee Kleespies, Rhyen Neal, Emma Swope, and Elise Wilcox.
The Rockets wrap up their regular season next week with a Tuesday night contest at Bowling Green before visiting Akron next weekend.
1st Set (Toledo, 25-10)
Toledo dominated the first set, hitting .429 (16-1-35) and holding Buffalo to a negative hitting percentage of -.032. The Rockets took a 15-3 lead at the media timeout and didn't let up the entirety of the first set. The Bulls scored three straight at one juncture to crack 10 points, but Toledo scored the next three to win 25-10. Alt and Kleespies both had five kills in the first set to lead the way for the Midnight Blue and Gold.
2nd Set (Buffalo, 25-21)
Both teams were neck-and-neck to start the second set, until Toledo scored three straight points to take an 11-8 lead. The Rockets were able to open up a 20-14 lead and looked to be in a good position to go up 2-0 in the match. The Bulls had other ideas though, scoring 10 of the next 11 points to surge ahead and win 25-21.
3rd Set (Toledo, 27-25)
The third set was the closest of the weekend between the Rockets and Bulls. Buffalo held an 11-9 lead at one point, but Toledo was able to score the next three points to move ahead by one, 12-11. For the rest of the set, neither team held a lead greater than one until the Rockets scored the clinching point to win, 27-25. Sophomore Rhyenne Filisi brought about set point with a kill to make it 25-24, but Buffalo's Monika Simkova tied it up at 25-25 with a termination of her own. Kleespies tallied back-to-back kills to give her team a third-set victory.
4th Set (Toledo, 25-22)
Buffalo led early, 6-4, before three straight points from the Rockets made it 7-6. Kleespies, Vance and Alt registered three consecutive terminations to give UT the lead. The Bulls fought to tie the score at 13-13, but the Rockets used a 6-1 run to take a five-point lead, 19-14. Buffalo tried its best to force a fifth set, scoring eight of the next 11 points to tie the score at 22-22. Kleespies gave Toledo the lead with her final kill of the match, and the Rockets ended the match with back-to-back blocks to put an exclamation point on a 2-0 weekend.
Highlights from Toledo's win over Buffalo.
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