BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team faced Bowling Green in the Battle of I-75 on Saturday, falling to the Falcons in four sets at the Stroh Center.
The Rockets (15-9, 8-5 MAC) bounced back from a loss in the first set to win an epic second set, 30-28, to even the match at 1-1. However, the Falcons (15-9, 10-3 MAC) proceeded to hit .321 and .450 in the final two sets to win Saturday's rivalry matchup.
Junior
Taylor Alt tied for the match high with 16 kills and added a career-best six blocks. Senior
Olivia Vance collected 10 kills and three blocks, while senior
Rhyenne Filisi tallied seven kills and five rejections. Junior
Payton Morman registered 41 assists and seniors
Ryann Jaqua (16) and
Sina Uluave (12) both reached double figures in digs.
Toledo returns to Savage Arena next weekend for its final two home matches of the regular season. The Rockets host Ohio on Friday and Saturday.
1st Set (25-18, Bowling Green)
Bowling Green opened the match with four straight points and quickly extended its lead to six, 10-4. The first set was all Falcons, as they would grow their lead to a match-high 12 points, 21-9, before winning 25-18 to take a 1-0 lead. BGSU hit .367 in the first set and never trailed at any point.
2nd Set (30-28, Toledo)
The marathon second set opened with both teams trading points, and neither side led by more than two until Toledo opened up a 13-10 advantage midway through the set. BGSU took a late 22-21 lead, but the Rockets rattled off three straight points to go ahead 24-22 and put themselves in a great position to tie the match at 1-1. The Falcons had other ideas, tying the score at 24-24 which proved to be the beginning of an epic back-and-forth. Toledo faced a set point three times in the final stages of the second stanza, but bounced back each time to tie the score. With the score tied at 28-28, Alt and Vance combined on a clutch block to put Toledo ahead by one and Uluave won the set with a service ace to even the match at 1-1.
3rd Set (25-17, Bowling Green)
Toledo led early in the third set, but a 6-1 run for the Falcons gave them a 10-6 lead. The Rockets fought to trim the deficit to two, 11-9, but couldn't get any closer. Bowling Green cruised to a 25-17 win to take a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set.
4th Set (25-15, Bowling Green)
Bowling Green jumped out to an 8-4 lead, but the Rockets fought back to pull within a point, 13-12. That would be the closest they would get though, as the Falcons surged ahead with a 9-1 scoring run to take a commanding 22-13 lead. The final score of the fourth set settled at 25-15.
