TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team (13-7, 6-3 MAC) hosts Northern Illinois (13-6, 6-3 MAC) this weekend for two critical Mid-American Conference matches.

Friday's contest is set to start at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday's match will begin at 4:00 p.m., with both matches being streamed live on ESPN3.

The Rockets and Huskies are both 6-3 in conference play and one game behind Ball State in the MAC West standings. Toledo lost to Ball State in four sets on Wednesday night at home.

Last Time Out
Toledo trailed 2-0 in last night's match against Ball State 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.

Taylor Alt led Toledo with 15 kills on Wednesday and Rhyenne Filisi added 10 terminations to help the cause. Ryann Jaqua led all comers with 20 digs, and Sina Uluave cracked double figures in digs as well with 12. Jada Bouyer tallied a team-high four blocks and collected nine kills, while Payton Morman added 41 assists.

Rocket Notes

• The Rockets faced Ball State on Wednesday and host Northern Illinois this weekend before visiting Bowling Green next Friday. The combined conference record of those three teams is 21-6.
• Toledo has the second-strongest remaining schedule in the MAC, with its upcoming opponents boasting a .601 winning percentage. Kent State (.628) ranks first in that category.
• To date, Toledo has the second-toughest schedule in the MAC this season, with all of its past and future opponents combining for a .547 winning percentage.
• Opponents are hitting just .177 against Toledo, the lowest opponent attack percentage in the MAC. The Rockets have held opponents to an attack percentage of .200 or lower 13 times and have held an opponent to an attack percentage less than .100 four times. In MAC play, Toledo is holding its opponents to a .170 attack percentage.
• The Rockets have done damage at the service line this year, ranking third in the MAC in aces/set (1.61). That figure has increased to 1.84 aces/set in conference play and Claire Eiden ranks fourth in the league in that category (0.41 aces/set) against MAC competition.
• Taylor Alt leads the MAC in scoring (4.53 points/set) and kills (3.94/set). One of the most prolific outside hitters in the country, she ranks 12^th among active players in career kills/set (3.95).
• Alt became the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills last weekend at WMU, the first Rocket to reach that milestone since Saige Thomas (2014-17). She now sits a 1,043 career kills, ninth-most ever in school history.
• Ryann Jaqua sits at 1,492 career digs, good for fourth all-time in program history. She is 31 digs away from passing Amber DeWeerdt (2008-11) to move into third place. Current assistant coach Maurissa Leonard is Toledo's all-time leader in career digs with 2,260.

 
About Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is one of the top defensive programs in the MAC, ranking first in blocks (2.47/set) and third in opponent attack percentage (.181). Sammi Lockwood leads the MAC in blocks at 1.28/set and teammate Charli Atiemo sits fifth (1.08/set). Offensively, Katie Jablonski leads NIU in kills (3.08/set) and Ella Mihacevich has earned three MAC West Setter of the Week honors.