TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team (10-5, 3-1 MAC) saw its five-match winning streak snapped on Friday with a four-set loss to Central Michigan (10-5, 3-1 MAC) at Savage Arena.
CMU won the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-22, but the Rockets kept themselves alive by winning the third set, 25-22. Toledo was unable to keep up with Central Michigan in the fourth set, however, falling 25-16 to the Chippewas.
Junior Taylor Alt led the way with a match-high 17 kills and 11 digs, her third double-double of the year. Senior Ryann Jaqua collected 20 digs while junior Payton Morman added 37 assists and eight digs. Senior Olivia Vance led Toledo with three blocks, and junior Abby Erickson added seven kills and a pair of blocks.
Toledo hosts a pair of MAC East foes next week. UT welcomes Buffalo to Savage Arena on Friday and plays Akron on Saturday.
1st Set (25-21, Central Michigan)
In the most back-and-forth set of the match, the two teams traded blows leading to a 16-16 stalemate. Central Michigan took control from that point on, scoring five straight points to take a 21-16 lead it would not relinquish. UT pulled within three points late, 24-21, but one final CMU kill ended the set and put the Rockets in a 1-0 hole in the match.
2nd Set (25-22, Central Michigan)
Central Michigan took a 6-2 lead to open the set and held the lead until eventually winning 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Toledo did trim its deficit to two very late, 24-22, after a 5-1 run. The scoring spurt started with a CMU error that was followed by a service ace from Morman and a kill from Erickson. Junior Rachel Pierce and Erickson tallied back-to-back kills to make it 24-22, but a UT service error ended the second set.
3rd Set (25-22, Toledo)
Toledo led wire-to-wire in the third set, winning 25-22 to extend the match. The Rockets started the set off strong by taking an 8-1 lead, a stretch that was punctuated by a kill from Erickson. The Chippewas didn't go down quietly, pulling to within a point at 22-21, but that was the closest they would get. Vance's huge block brought about set point, then a CMU attack error handed the Rockets the third set victory.
4th Set (25-16, Central Michigan)
Both teams held the lead in the early stages of the fourth frame, with CMU holding a 11-10 lead at one point. The Chippewas' lead quickly ballooned to 22-13, and the Rockets were unable to recover. The fourth set ended at 25-16 with a Central Michigan victory.
