TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team welcomed Ohio to Savage Arena on Friday night with a three-set sweep in Mid-American Conference action.
The Rockets (16-9, 9-5 MAC) dominated the match, holding Ohio (16-9, 10-4 MAC) to a .019 attack percentage while hitting .304. Toledo won the first set 25-19 and the second set 25-17 before cruising to a 25-11 triumph in the third set to complete the sweep.
"We came out focused tonight and it showed," head coach Jason Oliver said. "Ohio is a great team and they're playing good volleyball right now. We found a way to put them in bad situations, which isn't easy to do. We have to find a way to do it again tomorrow, which will be a tall order."
Junior Taylor Alt tallied 10 kills on Friday, leading all players. Seniors Rhyenne Filisi and Sina Uluave and junior Jada Bouyer all tallied at least six kills and hit at least .350, and senior Olivia Vance added six terminations as well. The Rockets had 10 blocks as a team and had four individuals record at least three blocks: Alt, Filisi, Vance, and junior Payton Morman. Morman collected a match-high 29 assists as well. Uluave and senior Ryann Jaqua tied for the match high with 15 digs.
Toledo will host Ohio in its final home match of the season on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The Rockets will celebrate Senior Day following the match, during which Olivia Vance, Abby Ray, Rhyenne Filisi, and Sina Uluave will be honored.
1st Set (25-19, Toledo)
The match began with both teams trading points and neither side able to grab a significant lead. That changed when Ohio used a 4-1 run to take a 13-10 advantage. The Rockets flipped the script after that, going on a 10-2 run to take a 20-15 lead it would not relinquish. The Bobcats scored three straight points late to hang around, but a block by Morman sealed the deal and put UT ahead 1-0 in the match.
2nd Set (25-17, Toledo)
The Rockets picked up right where they left off in the second set, scoring the first six points to take an early lead. Ohio was able to claw its way back, tying the score at 11-11. Toledo then surged ahead, scoring 13 of the next 16 points to go up 24-14 and put OU on the brink. The Bobcats responded with three straight points to stay alive, but once again the Rockets ended a set with a block to win, 25-17, and take a 2-0 lead in the match. Vance led Toledo with five kills and a pair of blocks in the second stanza.
3rd Set (25-11, Toledo)
Ohio jumped out to an early lead in the third set, 4-3, its first lead since midway through the first set. It didn't take long for the Rockets to grab control of the final set, however, as they quickly doubled up their opponent to take a 14-7 lead. Toledo continued to dominate from there, eventually winning 25-11 to emphatically end the match. The Rockets hit .414 in the final set and held Ohio to a -.040 attack percentage.
