DEKALB, Ill. – The Toledo women's volleyball team turned in a complete performance on Friday night at Northern Illinois, hitting .312 and tallying 12 blocks in a four-set victory.

The Rockets (11-14, 9-5 MAC) hit at least .300 in three of four sets on Friday night. They won the first set, 25-17, before the Huskies (25-23) won a close second set to even the match. Toledo won the third set, 25-21, to put NIU on the brink and won an uneven fourth set, 25-18, to end the match. The Rockets hit .379 and held Northern Illinois to a miniscule .029 attack percentage in the final frame.

Toledo remains in a tie for fourth place with Ohio (14-12, 9-5 MAC) in the conference standings, though the Bobcats own the tiebreaker by virtue of their win at Savage Arena last weekend. Both teams are two games ahead of Bowling Green (13-12, 7-7 MAC) and Central Michigan (13-13, 7-7 MAC). The top six teams will advance to the MAC Tournament at the end of the regular season.

"What a team effort and a great response to adversity by the entire team," head coach Jason Oliver said. "We found great play and consistent effort in a tough environment."

Senior Taylor Alt was outstanding, leading all players with 22 kills while attacking at a robust .450 clip. Fifth-year senior Rhyenne Filisi was equally terrific, tying her career high with eight blocks to lead Toledo's defensive efforts. She collected 10 kills as well and hit .381. Senior Jada Bouyer wasn't far behind Filisi in blocks, tallying six stuffs while adding eight kills.

Senior Mary-Kate Lopez got the start at setter and contributed 36 assists and 13 digs for her second double-double of the season. Fifth-year senior Ryann Jaqua continues to inch closer to becoming Toledo's all-time career leader in digs, tallying 21 at NIU on Friday to bring her career total to 2,217. Jaqua is now 44 digs away from passing Maurissa Leonard (2015-18, 2,260 digs) and moving into first place all-time in school history.

The Rockets and Huskies will face off again on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET.

1^st Set (25-17, Toledo)
Toledo got off to a hot start, claiming four of the first five points of the night. Northern Illinois tied the score at 5-5, then again at 6-6, but those would be the only times UT did not hold the lead outright in the first set. Izzy Granger's kill put the score at 7-6, and the Rockets only continued to grow their lead from there. A service ace from Claire Eiden gave the Rockets a 22-14 lead late in the set, and they would win the set by an eight-point margin as well at 25-17.

2^nd Set (25-23, Northern Illinois)
Mary-Kate Lopez opened the second set with a service ace, and Toledo quickly doubled up Northern Illinois to take an 8-4 lead. NIU responded with its best stretch of the night, a 12-2 run to give them a 16-10 advantage. The Huskies' lead grew as high as eight at 21-13, but the Rockets did not go down without a fight in the second set. UT proceeded to score points in bunches, and a kill by Rhyenne Filisi trimmed the deficit to two at 23-21. Lopez and Taylor Alt tallied back-to-back kills a short while later to make it 24-23, but an NIU kill provided the 25^th point to end the set and tie the match at 1-1.

3^rd Set (25-21, Toledo)
NIU scored three of the first four points of the third set, but a 4-0 Toledo run put it ahead by a score of 5-3. The run featured three Rocket blocks and a kill from Alt. Northern Illinois would tie the score at 5-5, but a block by Filisi and Brooke Naniseni gave Toledo the lead for good. An 8-2 run for UT in the middle of the set gave it a commanding 19-12 lead, and the final score settled at 25-21. Alt registered seven terminations in the third set to help give her team a 2-1 lead in the match.

4^th Set (25-18, Toledo)
Both teams traded points early and fought to a 6-6 stalemate, but the Rockets grabbed control with five straight points to put the score at 11-6. Toledo never trailed in the fourth set and never let the Huskies score more than two points in a row. Jada Bouyer provided the final point of the night on a kill, finishing the set and the match with a flourish.