BOULDER, Colo. – The Toledo women's volleyball team fell to Arkansas 3-2 (17-25, 25-21, 24-26, 26-24, 8-15) in a five-set battle on Sunday afternoon. The Rockets (6-3) and Razorbacks went back-and-forth all afternoon, recording 28 ties and 11 lead changes throughout the match.
Four Rockets tallied double-figure kills, led by sophomore
Olivia Heitkamp with a career-high 15 terminations. Senior
Sophie Catalano and redshirt sophomore
Sierra Pertzborn each poured in 12 kills. Pertzborn also added six blocks and a team-high three service aces throughout play.
Freshman outside hitter
Jessica Costlow recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs. Senior setter
Kelsey Smith poured in 48 assists and 17 digs for her third double-double of the season. Smith also tied her career-high with seven blocks.
Sophomore libero
Grace Freiberger paced the defense with a season-best 28 digs. Senior defensive specialist
Macy Medors chipped in 10 digs, a season-high mark.
Quoting Coach Wright
"This was an amazingly competitive weekend of high-level volleyball. Our volleyball IQ continues to improve every day. Our block grew throughout the weekend as we got tons of productive touches and enabled our defense to put pressure on high level attackers. We also continued to grow our range and ability to point score in various ways. I love the fight and growth we got out of this competitive weekend and am excited to get back to work tomorrow to continue getting better."
Key Moments
- Arkansas jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first set. Kills from Jessica Costlow and Sophie Catalano allowed the Rocket to tie the match, 10-10. The Razorbacks took a slight three-point lead, 18-15, before closing out the set with a 6-1 run to take the set win.
- The Razorbacks put together a 4-0 surge to take a 12-6 lead in the second set. Toledo responded with a 6-0 run of their own, highlighted by two kills from Olivia Heitkamp and a solo block from Sierra Pertzborn, to even the match, 14-14. Both sides traded points before the Rockets grabbed a 22-21 lead off of a block from Kelsey Smith and Pertzborn. Heitkamp fired off three straight kills to take the set victory.
- A kill and an ace from Pertzborn gave Toledo an 8-5 advantage in the third set. Costlow buried her eighth kill of the afternoon to keep the Rockets in front, 16-11. Arkansas fired off three straight points to get within one, 19-18, as the teams went back-and-forth. Knotted at 24-24, the Razorbacks scored two straight points to take the set win.
- Six straight points from the Rockets put them ahead in the fourth set, 8-4. A service ace from Macy Medors and kill from Anna Alford extended the lead, 13-8. Pertzborn's 10th termination of the day pushed the Rockets' lead to five, 18-13, but the Razorbacks responded with 6-1 run to tie the match, 22-22. Back-and-forth ensued, but Jessica Costlow fired off two straight kills to win the set.
- Arkansas began the fifth set with a 7-0 lead. The Rockets chipped away, using a Heitkamp kill to get within five, 10-5, but the Razorbacks recorded a kill to take the match victory.
Up Next
Toledo heads to the Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational in Fort Wayne, Ind. Action begins on Friday, Sept. 19 at 4:30 p.m. against Bellarmine.
Follow the Rockets
Instagram:
Toledo_VB
Twitter/X:
Toledo_VB
Facebook:
Toledo Volleyball
Â
