MUNCIE, Ind. – The Toledo women's volleyball team faced a stiff test on Tuesday at Ball State and fell to the first-place Cardinals in three sets.

Despite the final score, the Rockets (8-12, 6-3 MAC) were in contention with the Cardinals (12-8, 9-0 MAC) all night. In the first set, Toledo and BSU were tied as late as 20-20, and UT was within a point late in the second set at 17-18 and late in the third set at 21-22. The final few points of each set proved to be the difference, however, as Ball State was able to pull away each time.

Senior Taylor Alt and sophomore Izzy Granger tied for the team lead with 11 kills apiece, and senior Jada Bouyer was close behind with 10 terminations. Alt now has 1,539 career kills and is eight away from passing L.G. Bass (1,546 kills, 1984-87) for most career kills in school history.

Fifth-year senior Ryann Jaqua led all players with 21 digs, and freshman Macy Hatkevich added 35 assists. Senior Abby Erickson led Toledo with three blocks, and has now tallied at least three blocks in six of her last seven matches.

Toledo will head to Akron this weekend for a pair of conference matches.

1^st Set (25-22, Ball State)
Both teams traded points early, but a 5-1 Ball State run put them ahead 14-9. Toledo later responded by scoring five straight points to tie the score at 15-15, with Izzy Granger ending that run with back-to-back kills. A Ball State attack error handed Toledo a 17-16 lead, but UT surrendered three straight points to fall behind, 19-17. After fighting to tie the score at 20-20, the Rockets allowed the Cardinals to score four straight points to put the score at 24-20. Ball State would go on to win, 25-22, to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

2^nd Set (25-21, Ball State)
With the score tied at 10-10, Ball State scored four in a row to take a 14-10 advantage. Toledo was able to trim the deficit down to one on two occasions, 16-15 and 18-17, but was unable to get any closer. The Cardinals would go up 2-0 in the match after winning the second set, 25-21.

3^rd Set (25-21, Ball State)
Toledo found itself in a hole early, trailing 6-2 after a hot start by Ball State. The Rockets were able to fight back and tie the score at 11-11 with a strong push led by Jada Bouyer, who at one point scored three straight for UT on two kills and a block. Toledo continued to surge ahead and a short while later a kill by Abby Erickson put the Midnight Blue and Gold out in front, 15-14. The Rockets held a share of the lead as late at 19-19, but couldn't keep pace with the Cardinals. Ball State scored the final three points of the match to win the set, 25-21.