Box Score DEKALB, Ill. – For the second straight day, the Toledo women's volleyball team defeated Northern Illinois in four sets to keep itself in good standing in the MAC Tournament picture.
The Rockets moved to 12-14 overall and 10-5 in MAC play with the win and are still locked in a fourth-place tie with Ohio (15-12, 10-5 MAC) after its weekend sweep of Eastern Michigan. At the conclusion of Saturday's match, Toledo sat 2.5 games above both Bowling Green (13-12, 7-7 MAC) and Central Michigan (13-13, 7-7 MAC) in the conference standings. The top six teams will advance to the MAC Tournament after the regular season.
After dropping the first set, 27-25, the Rockets won the next three sets to capture the match. They dominated the second set to win 25-12, and won the third and fourth sets by identical 25-23 scores to defeat the Huskies.
Fifth-year senior Ryann Jaqua led all players with 21 digs, giving her 2,238 digs for her career. She is just 23 digs away from passing Maurissa Leonard (2015-18, 2,260 digs) to become Toledo's all-time career digs leader. Jaqua now has 11 straight matches with at least 20 digs.
Four different players had double-digit kills on Saturday, with seniors Taylor Alt and Jada Bouyer tying for the team lead with 15 terminations. Senior Abby Erickson and sophomore Izzy Granger each had 10 kills. Senior Mary-Kate Lopez contributed 49 assists and 11 digs for her second-straight double-double, and she added six blocks as well. She and Erickson tied for the team lead with six blocks. Alt also had a double-double, adding 10 digs to her statistical output. Toledo collected 11 service aces against the Huskies, with Jaqua (four), senior Claire Eiden (three), and sophomore Macy Medors (three) contributing 10 amongst themselves.
The Rockets host first-place Western Michigan for two matches next weekend.
1st Set (27-25, Northern Illinois)
Northern Illinois led 6-2 early, and while the Rockets fought to tie the score at 6-6 and 8-8 they wouldn't take the lead until much later in the first set. Trailing 19-14, Toledo scored five straight points to tie things up at 19-19, and a short while later back-to-back kills from Taylor Alt gave UT a 22-21 lead. The Rockets had the Huskies on the brink at 25-24, but surrendered three straight points to give Northern Illinois a 27-25 first-set victory.
2nd Set (25-12, Toledo)
The Rockets absolutely dominated the second set, hitting .464 while holding the Huskies to a .103 attack percentage. NIU actually led early at 5-3, but Jada Bouyer's kill sparked a 9-1 run that gave Toledo a 12-6 advantage. The lead continued to grow from there, and an ace by Ryann Jaqua pushed it into double digits at 20-10. The clinching point came from Macy Medors, the sixth and final service ace of the second set for Toledo in its 25-12 win.
3rd Set (25-23, Toledo)
Northern Illinois scored the first four points of the third set to take the lead. The Rockets tied the score at 7-7, but wouldn't hold a share of the lead again until very late in the set. Trailing 22-19, Toledo scored three straight to tie the score at 22-22, then a kill from Bouyer made it 23-22. NIU quickly tied the score at 23-23, but the Rockets completed their comeback by scoring the final two points of the set to win, 25-23, and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
4th Set (25-23, Toledo)
Toledo looked to be in a position to cruise to a fourth-set victory after taking a 14-8 lead, but NIU used a 9-1 run to take a 17-15 lead. The momentum swung back in the direction of the Rockets though, who scored nine of the next 10 points to go up 24-18 and put themselves a point away from a 2-0 weekend. Northern Illinois did not go down without a fight, scoring five straight points to make it 24-23, but a kill by Abby Erickson provided the clinching point in UT's second straight win.
