TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team fell to Buffalo 3-2 (25-22, 24-26, 21-25, 25-21, 9-15) in a hard-fought Mid-American Conference match at Savage Arena Friday night.

The Rockets move to 18-9 (9-6 MAC) on the season and are now in fourth in the MAC team standings with three matches left in the regular season. Buffalo improves to 9-15, 6-9 in MAC play. The top six teams earn a spot in the conference tournament.

Sophomore Olivia Heitkamp paced the offense, tallying a career-best 22 kills. She recorded six terminations in the third set alone as she recorded 20 or more kills for the second time in her career. Sophomore libero Grace Freiberger had a season-high 29 digs and eclipsed the 1,000 digs for her career. Freiberger's has had 20+ digs in 12 matches match this season, and in four consecutive contests. Freshman Jessica Costlow tallied a career-best 20 digs to go along with 10 kills for her fifth career double-double.

Senior setter Kelsey Smith tallied 41 assists and a career-high 28 digs for her 12^th double-double of the season. Redshirt sophomore Sierra Pertzborn led the team with three service aces, the fifth time she has had at least three aces.

Quoting Head Coach Brian Wright
"Our final home game is tomorrow and we're looking forward to bouncing back and playing in front of another great crowd. Rocket Nation has been great to us all year and we're excited to battle in front of them again tomorrow!"

Key Moments

• Sierra Pertzborn fired off two service aces to begin the first set and give the Rockets an early 5-0 lead. Toledo extended their advantage using three straight points, 14-7, before Buffalo got within four thanks to a quick run of their own, 14-10. Sophie Catalano tallied a kill to keep UT ahead by six, 20-14, but the Bulls used a 5-0 run to get within one, 20-19. Buffalo tied the match with a kill, 22-22, before a string of kills from Olivia Heitkamp and UB errors allowed Toledo to take the set win.
• Pertzborn tallied a third service ace to begin the second frame as Heitkamp and Jessica Costlow buried kills to put Toledo in front early, 9-4. The Rockets scored five straight points to extend their advantage, 13-6, before both sides traded points. Buffalo strung together a 5-1 run to get within one, 19-18, and took a slight lead with two kills, 22-20. Kills from Costlow and Kayla Ozanich tied the match again, 22-22, and two errors from UB put the Rockets at set point, 24-23. The Bulls recorded three straight points to take the set victory.
• Toledo took an early 5-2 lead in the third set thanks to an ace from Grace Freiberger. A block from Pertzborn and Caylee Sharkey extended the Rockets' lead, 7-3, before Buffalo used a 5-1 swing to get within one, 10-9. Three kills and a solo block from Heitkamp extended UT's lead, 15-11, but the Bulls used eight straight points to take their first lead of the set, 20-16. A block from Ozanich and Catalano put Toledo within one, 22-21, but three consecutive points from UB gave them the set win.
• Kills from Costlow and Anna Alford put Toledo ahead early in the fourth, 6-4. Both sides traded points before a block from Catalano and Alford allowed UT to retake a three-point lead, 15-12. The Rockets fired off a 5-1 run to extend their advantage, 20-15, before UB used three quick points to close the gap to two, 20-18. Smith put UT ahead by three with a kill, 23-20, before Catalano tallied a kill to reach set point. Toledo forced a decisive fifth set with a Buffalo error.
• Buffalo kicked off the fifth set with a 4-0 run and took a commanding 7-1 lead. The Rockets got within five with a kill from Heitkamp and Buffalo error, 14-9, but the Bulls recorded one last kill to win the match.

Up Next
Toledo hosts Buffalo for its final home match of the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 8. First serve is set for 5:00 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+.

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