TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team opened play at its home tournament on Thursday night, falling to Youngstown State in four sets.
The Toledo Invitational began with an intrastate battle between the Rockets and Penguins. YSU won the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-23, before Toledo won a marathon third set by a score of 28-26. The Rockets saw an early lead slip away in the fourth set, and despite fighting back to tie the score late they ended up falling 25-23 to end the match.
Senior Jada Bouyer hit .346 and tallied 13 kills, while senior Taylor Alt tallied a double-double with a team-best 15 as well as 11 digs. Senior Abby Erickson added nine kills and six blocks, both one off her career-high totals. Fifth-year senior Ryann Jaqua led Toledo with 18 digs, and freshman Macy Hatkevich and senior Mary-Kate Lopez split time at setter and recorded 21 and 18 assists, respectively.
Toledo hosts Virginia Tech on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m.
1st Set (25-19, Youngstown State)
Fifth-year senior Rhyenne Filisi provided the first point of the match on a kill, but Youngstown State scored six of the next seven to take a 6-2 lead. The Penguins hit a match-high .308 in the first set en route to a 25-19 win to take a 1-0 lead.
2nd Set (25-23, Youngstown State)
Youngstown State scored the first four points of the second set, but Toledo fought back to tie the score at 9-9. The tying point started a dominant stretch for the Rockets, who scored nine straight points to take a commanding 17-9 lead. The lead didn't last, however, as Youngstown State chipped away and used a 3-0 spurt late in the set to retake the lead at 22-21. Two straight Toledo points made it 23-22, but YSU's Abbie Householder provided three straight kills to end the set and put her team ahead 2-0.
3rd Set (28-26, Toledo)
Both teams exchanged blows early, but Bouyer and Alt provided three straight points to put Toledo ahead 12-9. The Rockets maintained their lead until late in the set, when the Penguins scored three straight to tie the score at 24-24. Sophomore Anna Alford made it 25-24 with a kill, but YSU scored two straight to put Toledo on the brink. Bouyer's kill tied the score at 26-26, Alt's kill made it 27-28, and Alford and Alt combined on a block to clinch the set and extend the match.
4th Set (25-23, Youngstown State)
Toledo led 15-11 before a 5-0 Youngstown State run made it 16-15. Neither team gave up much ground the rest of the way, but the Penguins managed to take a late 23-20 lead. A kill from Bouyer trimmed the lead to two, and Erickson followed up with a kill of her own to make it 23-22. Erickson and Lopez combined on a block to tie the score at 23-23, but Youngstown State scored the final two points of the set to end the match.
