TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team (13-7, 6-3 MAC) dropped its MAC West battle with Ball State (15-6, 7-2 MAC) on Wednesday, falling to the Cardinals in four sets. The Rockets and Cardinals entered the night locked in a tie atop the MAC West Division.
Toledo trailed 2-0 in the match before mounting a late comeback in set three to force a fourth set. The Rockets were unable to force a fifth set, however, and lost a close fourth frame.
Junior Taylor Alt led Toledo with 15 kills on Wednesday and senior Rhyenne Filisi added 10 terminations to help the cause. Senior Ryann Jaqua led all comers with 20 digs, and senior Sina Uluave cracked double figures in digs as well with 12. Junior Jada Bouyer tallied a team-high four blocks and collected nine kills, while junior Payton Morman added 41 assists.
Toledo returns to the court this weekend to host Northern Illinois. Matches between the Rockets and Huskies are set for Friday at 6:00 and Saturday at 4:00.
1st Set (25-21, Ball State)
Toledo led for much of the early part of the first set, taking a 12-11 lead on a kill off the hand of Bouyer. Ball State responded with six straight points, though, to take a 17-12 advantage. Trailing by seven, 22-15, the Rockets put together a late rally to pull within three points, but Ball State's Natalie Risi provided the 25th and final point to clinch the set.
2nd Set (25-16, Ball State)
The Cardinals scored the first three points of the second set and didn't trail at any point, eventually winning 25-16 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Ball State hit .481 in the second set, the highest single-set attack percentage for either team on the night.
3rd Set (25-22, Toledo)
The third set was the most back-and-forth of the night, with neither squad taking a lead larger than two until very late when Ball State used a 4-0 run to go up 20-17. With their backs against the wall, the Rockets scored four of the next five points to tie the score at 21-21. Filisi provided two of the biggest plays of the night right after that, tallying back-to-back aces to give Toledo a 23-21 lead and force Ball State to call a timeout. Alt's block brought about set point, and Bouyer's kill two plays later gave the Rockets a 25-22 win and extended the match.
4th Set (25-22, Ball State)
Toledo started off the fourth set by scoring three straight points to take an early lead. UT's lead proved to be short-lived though, as Ball State quickly moved ahead 7-6 and didn't trail for the remainder of the match. The Rockets didn't go down without a fight, using a late 6-2 run to pull within two points, 24-22, but Ball State answered with the clinching point to win the set and the match.
