KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Toledo women's volleyball team fell to Western Michigan, 3-0 (25-27, 19-25, 10-25) in a hard-fought battle on Saturday night. The Rockets (15-10, 8-5 MAC) are now in sixth place in the conference standings, still holding a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Toledo was led by outside hitter
Taylor Alt who recorded 11 kills. Freshman outside hitter
Olivia Heitkamp followed behind with seven kills while junior
Izzy Granger poured in six terminations of her own.
Freshman libero
Grace Freiberger totaled 31 digs, just one shy of her career high. Redshirt freshman
Sierra Pertzborn tallied a team-best five blocks while sophomore setter
Macy Hatkevich had three blocks of her own to go along with 28 assists.
"Our team showed much better focus and intensity tonight," said Head Coach
Jason Oliver. "Once again, Western Michigan found some ridiculous touches and converted them. Our team is learning what it takes to fight a low-error team like Western Michigan on the road. We now get back to the gym and get after a game plan for That Team Down South."
Western Michigan (13-11, 9-4 MAC) was led by Madison Merz and Julia Marr with 10 kills each.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (27-25 Western Michigan)
- Both sides traded points early in the set, but a kill from Izzy Granger and a solo block from Sierra Pertzborn put Toledo out front, 11-8.
- Kills from Macy Hatkeivch and Olivia Heitkamp kept the Rockets ahead, 17-15.
- The Broncos fired off a 5-1 run to take the lead, 23-21.
- Toledo reached set point off a Western Michigan error, but the Broncos used a kill and a service ace to take the set.
- The first set saw 11 ties and seven lead changes.
SET TWO (25-19 Western Michigan)
- Western Michigan jumped out to an early 10-1 lead.
- Toledo cut the lead to five behind kills and a block from Pertzborn and Izzy Granger.
- A block from Pertzborn and Hatkevich got the Rockets within three, 19-16, and an ace from Granger kept Toledo within reach.
- The Broncos scored three quick points to grab the set win.
SET THREE (25-10 Western Michigan)
- Toledo took an early 2-1 lead thanks to two kills from Kayla Ozanich and Taylor Alt.
- The Broncos rattled off a 9-1 run to gain control of the set, 10-3.
- Toledo got within seven, 13-6, but the Western Michigan offense proved too much for the Rockets.
UP NEXT
Toledo heads to Bowling Green for the second installment of the Battle of I-75 on Tuesday, Nov. 5. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+.
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