MUNCIE, Ind. – Toledo women's volleyball fell to Ball State 3-1 (16-25, 25-19, 12-25, 19-25) on Saturday evening in Muncie, Ind.
The Rockets move to 14-5 (5-2 MAC) on the season. Ball State is 11-8, 7-0 and in first place in the Mid-American Conference.
The Toledo offense saw three players reach double-figure kills, led by sophomore
Olivia Heitkamp for the third-straight match. Heitkamp totaled 13 kills while redshirt sophomore
Sierra Pertzborn followed behind with 12 kills. Freshman
Jessica Costlow added 10 kills, recording her ninth match this season with 10-plus terminations.
Senior setter
Kelsey Smith recorded 45 assists and 10 digs to grab her eighth double-double of the season. Sophomore libero
Grace Freiberger led the team in digs, tallying 13 in the match.
Quoting Head Coach Brian Wright
"One of our goals is to play our best volleyball in November. This weekend gave us nine sets against a good team to learn and grow from as we move towards that goal. I like the way we battled and fought. Our staff will dive in to the video and we will continue to get better each and every day."
Key Moments
- The Rockets and Cardinals went back-and-forth in the first set before Ball State used two consecutive service aces to take a 15-11 lead. Olivia Heitkamp tallied a kill to keep Ball State's lead at four, 18-14, but a block and kill from the Cardinals extended their advantage to seven. Three-straight kills from Ball State secured the set win.
- Ball State used a block to take an 8-5 lead in the second set. The Rockets kept the match within reach before using a 5-0 run, powered behind kills from Jessica Costlow and a block from Sierra Pertzborn and Kelsey Smith, to take a three-point lead, 15-12. Heitkamp's seventh kill of the match kept Toledo ahead, 21-16, before a kill from Costlow put the Rockets at set point, 24-19, and an ace from Avery Adamski took the set win.
- Toledo started the third set off with a 4-0 run to take an early lead. Ball State responded with a 9-2 run to take a 9-6 advantage. The Cardinals used six-straight point to extend their lead, 21-11, and took the set victory with an ace.
- The fourth set started off with much back-and-forth before Ball State used a 4-0 run to take a 15-11 lead. Heitkamp tallied her 13th kill of the evening to get within two, 18-16, but the Cardinals scored three-straight points to reach set point, 24-18, and won with a kill.
Up Next
Toledo continues MAC play on the road, heading to DeKalb, Ill. on Friday, Oct. 17-Saturday, Oct. 18 to take on Northern Illinois. Friday's match will begin at 7:00 p.m. ET with coverage on ESPN+.
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