University of Toledo
17-10,10-6MAC
Kent State
13-14,4-12MAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo | 21 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 15 | 3 |
| Kent St. | 25 | 21 | 20 | 26 | 11 | 2 |
Toledo Outlasts Kent State in Five-Set Thriller
11/11/2022 10:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
KENT, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team opened its weekend with a thrilling win at Kent State on Friday, outlasting the Golden Flashes in five sets.
Toledo (17-10, 10-6 MAC) dropped the first set, but came back to win sets two and three to take a 2-1 lead in the match. After a late Kent State (13-14, 4-12 MAC) comeback in the fourth set extended the match, the Rockets withstood another KSU push in the fifth set to hold on and win a crucial conference battle in the final week of the regular season.
"What a hard-fought match by both teams," head coach Jason Oliver said. "We found a way to step up in big moments and make big plays. Our players really dug deep tonight, which I was excited to see. We need to build on this and build some momentum heading into the final two matches of the regular season."
With Toledo's win and a Buffalo (17-11, 9-7 MAC) loss, the three-way tie for fourth place has dropped to a two-way tie between UT and Central Michigan (17-10, 10-6 MAC). CMU owns the tiebreaker over Toledo by virtue of its intra-division winning percentage. Following Friday's action, Northern Illinois (17-10, 10-7 MAC) tentatively holds the final MAC Tournament spot and is half a match behind the Rockets in the standings. NIU has just one match remaining in its regular season, while Toledo has two. The top six teams advance to the MAC Tournament.
Juniors Taylor Alt and Jada Bouyer led the way in Friday's win, tallying 23 and 15 kills respectively, the latter of which is a career-high total for Bouyer. Both players stood tall in the final set, collected four kills each to help lead the Rockets to victory. Senior Olivia Vance was outstanding as well, adding 14 kills and four blocks while hitting .414. Seniors Ryann Jaqua (19 digs) and Abby Ray (18 digs) led UT in the digs category, while freshman Macy Medors added a career-best 14 digs and Alt registered 14 digs as well for her fifth double-double of the year. Senior Ryann Filisi led Toledo with five blocks and junior Payton Morman paced the offensive attack with 55 assists.
The Rockets and Golden Flashes will return to the court on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN3
1st Set (25-21, Kent State)
Kent State opened the match by scoring five of the first seven points and never trailed in the first set. Toledo fought to tie the score twice, at 7-7 and 13-13, but could not get closer. Trailing by just a point, 20-19, late in the set, the Rockets surrendered three straight points to push Kent State's lead to 23-19. The final score settled at 25-21 as UT fell behind 1-0 in the match.
2nd Set (25-21, Toledo)
The Golden Flashes again charged out to an early lead and controlled the beginning of the second set. Toledo trailed 15-12 at one point before scoring four straight to flip the script and make the score 16-15. Kent State quickly tied the score at 16-16, Filisi answered with a kill before teaming up with Bouyer on a block to give Toledo the lead for good in the second set. The Rockets would go on to win, 25-21, to level the score at 1-1.
3rd Set (25-20, Toledo)
Both teams traded points to begin the third set, but with the score tied at 7-7 Toledo rattled off seven straight points to double up the Golden Flashes and put the score at 14-7. The Rockets controlled the remainder of the set and won, 25-20, to go up 2-1 in the match.
4th Set (26-24, Kent State)
Toledo trailed 16-10 in the fourth set before clawing its way back into contention, eventually taking a late 21-19 lead. A few points later, Vance's kill made the score 24-21 to bring about match point, but Kent State stunned the Rockets by scoring five straight points to win the fourth set, 26-24, and force a decisive fifth set.
5th Set (15-11, Toledo)
Alt owned the first portion of the fifth set, tallying four kills and a block in the first eight points to help give UT a 6-2 lead. The Golden Flashes grabbed the momentum, however, by scoring six straight points to take an 8-7 lead. This time it was Bouyer's turn to take control of the match, as she accounted for four of Toledo's final five point of the night to will her team to a 15-11 victory in the fifth set.
