TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team posted a pair of four-set victories over Eastern Washington (25-15, 25-18, 19-25, 25-21) and Northern Kentucky (24-26, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18) on Friday in the Rocket Invitational in its first home action of the 2024 season..UT's first win of the day in Savage Arena marked head coach Jason Oliver's 200th career win.

Three Rockets totaled double-digit kills against the Eagles. Taylor Alt led the way with a season-high 17 kills, while Izzy Granger added 14. Sierra Pertzborn also recorded a season-high 13 kills vs. EWU. 

Macy Hatkevich and Ella Abraham tallied season-highs in assists, collecting 26 and 21 respectively. Toledo's defense against Eastern Washington was led by Grace Freiberger with 15 digs. Alt, Granger and Hatkevich each collected nine digs of their own.

In the nightcap of the tournament, Toledo was led by Alt with 16 kills with a .306 clip. Granger also was in double digits with 13 terminations. Freiberger paced the team again on defense, tallying a season-best 23 digs. Hatkevich and Granger added 13 and 12 digs, respectively.

"Taylor Alt, Izzy Granger and the whole team were beasts today," said Oliver. "The whole team played with a lot of energy and passion. Today was a long day of volleyball, and being able to grind out a win against a good Northern Kentucky team at the end of the day was great momentum to take into our match against Marshall tomorrow."

Toledo will look to capture the Rocket Invitational title tomorrow when it faces the Thundering Herd (6-2) at noon. Eastern Washington and Northern Kentucky will meet in the opening match at 10:00 a.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME ONE – Toledo 3, Eastern Washington 1

Set One (25-15 Toledo)

• Toledo jumped out to an early 7-4 lead, thanks to three-straight kills from Taylor Alt and Izzy Granger.
• Anna Alford tallied her first solo block of the afternoon, helping the Rockets take a 20-12 lead.
• Kills from Caylee Sharkey, Alt and Granger, as well as an ace from Macy Hatkevich helped the Rockets close out the first set.

Set Two (25-18 Toledo)

• Three consecutive kills from Sierra Pertzborn put the Rockets ahead, 4-1.
• The Rockets took a four-point lead, 16-12, off a kill from Alt.
• Alt extended the lead to seven, 20-13, but three quick points from the Eagles reduced their deficit to five.
• A kill from Alt and an Eagles' error secured the set for the Rockets.

Set Three (25-19 Eastern Washington)

• The Eagles opened the set with a 4-0 run and extended the lead to 9-2 off of back-to-back kills.
• Kills from Granger and Sharkey kept the Rockets within three, 12-9.
• Heitkamp rattled home a kill to get Toledo within a pair and the match was tied following an Eagles error.
• Eastern Washington pulled away with a string of kills and a block got the Eagles their first set win of the match.

Set Four (25-21 Toledo)

• Sharkey and Pertzborn combined for an early block to give Toledo momentum and a 3-1 lead.
• Both sides traded blows throughout much of the set, but the Rockets were able to pull away behind Alt's 16th kill of the match and a solo block from Alford.
• Alt's 17th termination put the team at match point and an Eastern Washington service error secured the win. 

GAME TWO – Toledo 3, Northern Kentucky 1

Set One (26-24 Northern Kentucky)

• Pertzborn registered a solo block for the first Toledo point of the game as the Rockets strung together a 4-0 run with Granger behind the service line.
• Toledo took a 11-6 lead on a kill from Alt.
• Medors rattled off a 4-0 scoring run from behind the service line to put Toledo ahead 20-16.
• A 6-1 run by the Norse tied the teams at 23-all. Northern Kentucky used three consecutive points to take the first set.

Set Two (25-18 Toledo)

• An Abraham ace and a Heitkamp and Alford block put Toledo ahead, 8-5.
• A 3-0 run by the Norse tied the match, 13-13.
• Back-to-back blocks from Heitkamp and Alford gave the Rockets a five-point advantage, 21-16.
• Three straight points from Toledo tied the match, 1-1.

Set Three (25-19 Toledo)

• Alford's fourth kill of the match put Toledo up, 9-5.
• Blocks from Pertzborn and Granger extended the Rockets' lead to 15-8.
• Two consecutive kills from Granger put Toledo at set point and a Norse error gave the home team a 2-1 set lead.

Set Four (25-18 Toledo)

• Kills from Alt and Heitkamp tied the match, 4-4.
• Both sides traded points, but three consecutive blocks, including solos from Alt and Alford, put Toledo ahead, 19-12.
• Heitkamp hammered home her seventh kill of the match to extend the lead to 22-15.
• Two kills from Granger secured the match win for the Rockets.

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