TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team opened up its weekend with a four-set loss vs. Ohio on Friday night.
After dropping the first set, 25-19, the Rockets (10-13, 8-4 MAC) bounced back to win the second set 25-20 to even the match. The Bobcats (13-11, 8-4 MAC) answered by winning the third and fourth sets to win the match.
The loss puts Toledo and Ohio in a tie for fourth place in the MAC standings. Both teams are a game back of Buffalo (19-5, 9-3 MAC) and two games back of Ball State (13-10, 10-2 MAC). Western Michigan sits atop the league with a 22-2 overall record and a perfect 12-0 MAC ledger.
Senior
Taylor Alt tallied a team-high 15 kills, and seniors
Jada Bouyer and
Abby Erickson both recorded nine terminations. Erickson also led Toledo with a match-high five blocks. Fifth-year senior
Ryann Jaqua led all players with 26 digs and sophomore
Izzy Granger reached double-digits as well, collecting 11 digs. Freshman
Macy Hatkevich registered 38 assists.
Toledo returns to the court on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. to host Kent State.
1st Set (25-19, Ohio)
Ohio scored the first three points of the match and led wire-to-wire in the first set. The Rockets were unable to keep up with the Bobcats, who would go on to win the first set by a score of 25-19. Ohio's Kam Hunt was a force in the first set, hitting .545 and collecting eight kills.
2nd Set (25-20, Toledo)
The Bobcats led 5-3 early, but Toledo responded by scoring four straight points to go up 7-5 and take its first lead of the night. The second was the closest of the night, with both teams playing 22 points before either side took a lead larger than one and one juncture. That occurred late in the set when, trailing 17-16, Toledo scored three straight to go up 19-17. The Rockets never trailed for the rest of the set, and a service ace by sophomore
Macy Medors provided the clinching point to even the match.
3rd Set (25-20, Ohio)
The third set followed a similar script to the first, as Ohio jumped to an early lead and never trailed. After scoring the first four points of the set, the Bobcats managed to keep a lead until the very end, winning the set 25-20 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
4th Set (25-21, Ohio)
The Bobcats scored the first four points of the set, but this time the Rockets found an answer. A 7-0 run later in the set turned a three-point deficit into a four-point lead, 12-8, for the Midnight Blue and Gold. Ohio responded with a 7-1 run to retake the lead, but three straight Toledo points gave them a 16-15 advantage. That would be the last time the Rockets held the lead, however, as Ohio scored five straight points to go up 20-16 and shortly thereafter won the set, 25-21, to claim the match.