ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Toledo women's volleyball team (3-2) opened its weekend at the Michigan Invitational with a pair of losses on Friday. The Rockets fell to Michigan (4-0) and Loyola Chicago (3-2), with both matches ending in three sets.
 
The first match of the day saw the Rockets face a strong offensive attack from the Wolverines, who hit .420 in the three-set sweep. Senior Olivia Vance and junior Taylor Alt both led UT with seven kills apiece. Freshman Izzy Granger registered three kills on five attacks, all in the third set.
 
Alt once again led the charge in the Loyola match, tallying 16 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double of the year while hitting .324. Senior Ryann Jaqua had a team-high 12 digs and junior Payton Morman added 32 assists.
 
Toledo will wrap up its weekend in Ann Arbor on Saturday at noon against Morehead State. That match will be streamed live on BTN+.
 
Michigan 3, Toledo 0
 
1^st set (25-16, Michigan)
 
The Rockets opened up a two-point lead to start the match, 7-5, before Michigan scored seven straight points to make it 12-7. Toledo never recovered from the Wolverines' scoring surge and couldn't close the gap to less than four, eventually falling 25-16.
 
2^nd set (25-22, Michigan)
 
The closest set of the match was also Toledo's best offensive set by far. After hitting .069 in the first frame, UT hit .440 in the second and hung with Michigan until the final point. The Rockets used a late 3-0 run to pull within two points, 21-19, before Michigan scored three of the next four to make it 24-20. Facing a set point, junior Jada Bouyer's kill and junior Claire Eiden's service ace once again trimmed the lead to two, 24-22, and caused the Wolverines to use a timeout. Coming out of the break, however, Michigan tallied the clinching point to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
3^rd Set (25-12, Michigan)
 
The Rockets tallied the first point of the set on a service error, but the rest of the third stanza was all Michigan. The Wolverines rattled off 12 straight points to take a commanding 12-1 and didn't look back, winning by a score of 25-12 to complete the sweep.
 
Loyola 3, Toledo 0
 
1^st set (25-20, Loyola)
 
Toledo got off to a great start in its second match of the day, jumping out to a 9-4 lead in the first set against the Ramblers. Alt accounted for three of the nine points and Bouyer capped the scoring run with back-to-back kills. Loyola controlled the back half of the first set though, using a 7-1 run to take a 19-16 lead. The Ramblers would go on to win the first set, 25-20, to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
2^nd set (25-16, Loyola)
 
Morman's service ace capped a 4-1 run for the Rockets to give them a 10-9 lead, but that would be the final time UT led in the second set. Loyola responded with three straight points and then, with the score tied at 12-12, scored four straight to take a 16-12 lead. Toledo pulled within three points, 19-16, but the Ramblers fired off six unanswered points to win the second set and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
3^rd Set (25-23, Loyola)
 
Loyola looked to be on its way to winning the third set, scoring eight of the first 11 points to take an 8-3 lead. The Ramblers lead grew to as many as eight, 15-7, but the Rockets did not go down without a fight. A late 5-0 run capped by a service ace from Alt cut the deficit to just two, 23-21, in the later stages of the match. The two teams traded points to make it 24-22, then a Loyola kill provided the 25^th point to end the match.