TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team will play its first regular season home matches this weekend when it hosts Eastern Illinois, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Duquesne for the Toledo Challenge.

Four total matches will be played at Savage Arena this weekend, with the Rockets playing the second match each day. Toledo will face Eastern Illinois on Friday, Sept. 16 at 6:00 p.m. and play Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 4:00 p.m. All four matches will be streamed live on ESPN3.

Toledo Challenge Schedule

Friday, Sept. 16
Purdue Fort Wayne vs. Duquesne, 4:00 p.m.
Toledo vs. Eastern Illinois, 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 17
Duquesne vs. Eastern Illinois, 1:30 p.m.
Toledo vs. Purdue Fort Wayne, 4:00 p.m.

Last Time Out
Toledo went 1-2 last weekend at the Holiday Inn-University Plaza Invitational hosted by Western Kentucky. The Rockets' lone win came on Friday against Northern Kentucky in three sets. Toledo hit .320 in its convincing win over the Norse and held its opponent to a .069 attack percentage. Taylor Alt led the charge offensively, tallying a match-high 11 kills. Junior Jada Bouyer was outstanding, hitting .500 and adding eight terminations, while Sina Uluave added nine kills and hit .333 to help the cause. Payton Morman collected 29 assists and senior Ryann Jaqua recorded a match-best 17 digs. The Rockets dominated the match, never trailing at any point in the second or third sets. Alt was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 4.00 kills/set across three contests.

Rocket Notes

• Taylor Alt leads the MAC in scoring (4.32 points/set) and ranks third in kills (3.81/set). One of the most prolific outside hitters in the country, she ranks 10^th among active players in career kills/set (3.95).
• Two of the four highest single-match kill totals by a MAC player this season have come from Alt. She tallied 26 kills last Saturday against Austin Peay and 25 during opening weekend against CSU Bakersfield.
• Alt has 893 kills entering the weekend, just 107 away from 1,000 for her career.
• Ryann Jaqua ranks fifth in the MAC in digs (4.16/set) and is one of five players to be averaging at least four digs per set.
• The Rockets' five-set match against Austin Peay last Saturday was their first five-setter of the year. Prior to that, UT had played six straight three-set matches.

About Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois enters the weekend at 5-5 and is scheduled to host No. 25 Illinois on Wednesday evening. Last weekend, EIU went 3-0 at a tournament at Eastern Kentucky, defeating EKU, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Saint Francis. Sophomore outside hitter Kaitlyn Flynn was named OVC Offensive Player of the Week after averaging 4.71 kills/set this past weekend.

About Purdue Fort Wayne
Purdue Fort Wayne sits at 4-5 and recently snapped a four-match losing streak with a sweep of Saint Francis. Senior Sidney Schiller leads the Mastodons offensively (3.27 kills/set) and has seven matches with at least 10 kills. Senior Rachael Crucis is averaging 4.97 digs/set, which ranks fourth in the Horizon League.

About Duquesne
Duquesne sports a 2-8 recorded coming into the weekend, its two wins coming against Canisius and Southern Indiana. Freshman Carsyn Henschen is averaging a team-best 3.05 kills/set, which ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Freshman middle blocker Ariel Helm was named to the Chattanooga Classic All-Tournament team last weekend after tallying 30 kills and 14 blocks while hitting .511 in three matches.