OXFORD, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's volleyball team visited the Miami RedHawks on Tuesday night, falling in three sets (27-25, 25-22, 26-24) at Millett Hall.
The Rockets led late in both the first and third sets, but they were unable to fend off late RedHawk rallies in Tuesday's loss. Sophomore Olivia Vance had an excellent night defensively, tallying a career-high 10 blocks, the first double-digit block performance by a Rocket since 2017 (Rachel Vidourek, 10 at Ohio). Freshman Taylor Alt had a team-high nine kills and fellow rookie Payton Morman added 23 assists. Senior Chloee Kleespies and sophomore Rhyenne Filisi added three blocks apiece. As a team, Toledo registered 13 total blocks.
Toledo returns home this weekend for two matches against Central Michigan. Friday's contest is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start and Saturday's match will begin at 3:00 p.m.
1st Set (27-25, Miami)
Toledo took an early lead, scoring four straight points to move ahead 8-5. The Rockets led for much of the first set, and looked to be on their way to a 1-0 lead in the match when they took a 24-19 lead. But Miami stormed back with five straight points to tie the score at 24-24. Vance's termination gave UT a 25-24 advantage, but the RedHawks scored the next three points to win 27-25 and claim the first set. Toledo hit .310 in the first set and Miami hit .282, the best set hitting percentage-wise for both teams.
2nd Set (25-22, Miami)
The RedHawks were the ones to take an early lead this time, scoring seven of the first nine points of the second set to put Toledo behind 7-2. The Miami lead grew as high as seven, 16-9, after a 5-0 run in the middle of the set. The Rockets never led at any point in the second stanza, though they did pull within one, 22-21, near the end. Trailing 22-16, Toledo scored the next five points to pull within a point of Miami, but couldn't complete the comeback and fell behind 2-0 in the match.
3rd Set (26-24, Miami)
The third set was a tight one out of the gate, but with the score tied at 6-6 Toledo captured the next four points to take a 10-6 lead over Miami. The RedHawks would use a 6-1 run to move ahead by one, 12-11, but UT retook the lead and continued to stay ahead of Miami until the very end of the set. Alt blasted her ninth kill of the night to bring about a set point, 24-19, but Toledo couldn't close it out. The RedHawks clawed their way back with seven straight points to stun the Rockets and win 26-24, clinching the three-set sweep.
