LYNCHBURG, Va. –- The Toledo women's volleyball team defeated Clemson in the first round of the NIVC on Saturday, taking down the Tigers in four sets at Liberty Arena on the campus of Liberty University.
The Rockets (19-12) will face Western Carolina (19-12) in the second round on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., with the winner advancing to the third round to play Southern Mississippi next week.
Toledo dropped the first set against Clemson, a marathon 28-26 affair that put the Tigers ahead 1-0 in the match. The Rockets then won sets two and three, 25-23, then 25-22, before taking the fourth set 25-18 to clinch the match. Their win over Clemson is their second over a Power Five opponent this season, the other being a three-set sweep over Arizona State on Aug. 27.
"What a hard-fought match," head coach Jason Oliver said. "Our offense took a little bit to get going, but I was really happy with our execution at the end of sets. This was a big win for the program."
Junior Taylor Alt led Toledo with 21 kills and hit .308 on Saturday, one of three Rockets to tally double-digit terminations. Senior Olivia Vance and junior Jada Bouyer both had 11 kills and hit .455 and .375, respectively. Junior Mary-Kate Lopez got her second start of the year at setter and had 45 assists, helping UT hit .294 for the match. Senior Ryann Jaqua added 24 digs to help the cause.
1st Set (28-26, Clemson)
The first set was as close as it gets, as neither team held a lead larger than two until Clemson used a 4-1 run to take a 21-18 lead. The Rockets responded with a 5-1 spurt to take a 23-22 lead, but the Tigers answered by scoring three of the next four points to take a 25-24 lead and put UT on the brink. Toledo fought to another tie score at 26-26, but Clemson's Cate Long tallied back-to-back kills to end the set and put her team on top 1-0 to begin the match.
2nd Set (25-23, Toledo)
Clemson scored the first two points of the set and led 3-1 very early, but Toledo flipped the script with a 9-1 run to take a 10-4 advantage and did not trail for the remainder of the set. The Tigers did make things interesting late, as a 23-16 Toledo lead quickly dwindled down to 24-23, but Vance's kill provided the clinching point. Alt recorded six kills in the second set.
3rd Set (25-22, Toledo)
Both teams wrestled for control early, but Toledo was able to put a little distance between itself and Clemson by taking a 13-9 lead. The Tigers responded by scoring six of the next eight points to tie the score at 15-15, and they would continue to keep pace with the Rockets. Holding a slim 22-21 lead, UT ended the third set by scoring three of the last four points to win 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead in the match. The third set was the Rockets' most efficient of the night, as they hit .395 (21-4-43).
4th Set (25-18, Toledo)
The Tigers led for much of the early part of the set, taking an 11-7 lead and putting themselves on pace to force a fifth set. But the Rockets scored the next five points to take a 12-11 lead, and continued pour it on. Toledo opened up a 23-17 lead late and Vance and Lopez combined on the match-clinching block to send the Rockets on to the second round.
