TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team heads to DeKalb to face Northern Illinois in a pair of Mid-American Conference matches this weekend.

The Rockets and Huskies will battle on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. ET and again on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Toledo (10-14, 8-5 MAC) is tied with Ohio (13-12, 8-5 MAC) for fourth place in the MAC standings with five matches remaining in the regular season. NIU (8-17, 6-7 MAC) is locked in a four-way tie with Bowling Green (12-12, 6-7 MAC), Central Michigan (12-13, 6-7 MAC), and Akron (11-13, 6-7 MAC) for sixth place. The top six teams will advance to the MAC Tournament at the end of the regular season.

Ryann Jaqua Chasing Down Familiar Face for All-Time Dig Record
Ryann Jaqua is closing in on Toledo's all-time career digs record. She is 65 digs away from breaking Maurissa Leonard's (2015-18) school record of 2,260. Toledo has five matches remaining in the regular season. For reference, Jaqua is averaging 5.55 digs/set over her last nine matches and has tallied at least 20 digs in all nine contests.

Last Time Out
Toledo faced a pair of MAC East foes at home, falling to Ohio and Kent State in four-set battles.

After dropping the first set against the Bobcats on Friday, 25-19, the Rockets bounced back to win the second set 25-20 to even the match. Ohio answered by winning the third and fourth sets to win the match. Taylor Alt tallied a team-high 15 kills, and Jada Bouyer and Abby Erickson both recorded nine terminations. Erickson also led Toledo with a match-high five blocks.

On Saturday vs. the Golden Flashes, the Rockets dropped the first two sets before keeping the match alive by winning the third set. A back-and-forth fourth set that saw 17 tie scores and 10 lead changes went Kent State's way, however, and gave Toledo its second straight loss. Alt led all players with 22 kills while adding 11 digs, her 11th double-double of the season.

Rocket Notes

• Taylor Alt ranks second in the MAC in kills/set (3.97) and third in scoring (4.36 points/set).
• Alt ranks 10th among active Division I players in kills/set (4.01) and she ranks 14th in kills (1,613). She has appeared in fewer sets than all 14 players that rank ahead of her.
• Ryann Jaqua is averaging 5.17 digs/set, which leads the MAC and ranks 16th in the nation. She tallied at least 20 digs in nine straight matches and has hit double-digit digs in 30 straight matches dating back to last season.
• Jaqua enters play this weekend with 2,196 career digs, trailing only Maurissa Leonard's (2015-18) 2,260 digs for most in Toledo history.
• Jaqua leads all active MAC players and ranks seventh overall among all active Division I players in career digs.
• Abby Erickson ranks seventh in the MAC this season in blocks/set (0.89).
• Toledo has played eight five-set matches this season, one behind Central Michigan's nine for most among MAC schools. The Rockets have gone the distance in four of their last eight matches.

About Northern Illinois
NIU brings an 8-17 overall record and a 6-7 MAC ledger into play this weekend. The Huskies will be looking to snap a five-match losing skid, with their last win coming on Oct. 13 vs. Eastern Michigan. Northern Illinois is one of the top teams at the net in the MAC, ranking second in blocks (2.25/set) and first in fewest blocks allowed (1.52/set). Charli Atiemo is averaging 1.07 blocks/set, which ranks second in the league.

Next Up
The Rockets host first-place Western Michigan next weekend before playing Ball State on the final day of the regular season on Wednesday, Nov. 15.