TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo women's volleyball rallied to pick up its fifth-straight win, a 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19) decision over Mid-American Conference foe Ohio on Friday night.

The Rockets improve to 11-3 (2-0 MAC), continuing to keep pace with the best start in program history. Toledo also began the 2004 season with an 11-3 mark.

Senior Sophie Catalano led the Rockets' offense, recording 13 kills on a .303 clip. Redshirt sophomore Sierra Pertzborn added 12 terminations of her own to go along with five blocks.

Sophomore libero Grace Freiberger totaled 25 digs while Senior setter added 20 digs to go along with 34 assists, five kills and five blocks, marking her fourth double-double of the season.

The Rockets rattled off nine service aces in the match, led by Freiberger with three and Jessica Costlow with two. This marks the fifth match this season tallying nine or more aces.

Quoting Coach Wright
On the home crowd and match:
"There was fantastic energy at Savage tonight. The crowd was amazing. After battling back and forth in the first set, I really liked our response to start quick in the second and we did a fantastic job of staying in the moment and competing at a high level the rest of the night."

On Sophie Catalano's Play:
"Offensively, Sophie really got a hot hand as the match went on and scored in a wide variety of ways. It's so nice having different people lead us in kills from night to night and getting so many high-level performances across the board. Kelsey (Smith) did a fantastic job of managing the offense, and our passing and defense really continued to improve throughout the night to create these offensive opportunities."

Key Moments

• Ohio took an early 7-3 lead in the first set before the Rockets tied the match with an ace from Sierra Pertzborn. After trading back-and-forth points, the Bobcats fired off two kills to take a 20-17 lead. Ohio recorded two straight kills to take the set win.
• The Rockets began the second set with an 8-0 run with Grace Freiberger behind the service line. Two kills from Olivia Heitkamp extended Toledo's advantage, 12-4. A termination from Pertzborn kept Toledo in front by 10, 20-10, and a Catalano kill secured the set victory.
• A block from Kelsey Smith and Pertzborn put Toledo ahead in the third, 5-2. Ohio knotted the match with a pair of kills, 8-8. Heitkamp put up a solo block to keep Toledo in front, 17-14, and the Rockets remained in the lead for the remainder of the set until a kill from Smith helped grab the set win.
• An ace from Jessica Costlow gave Toledo the 8-5 lead in the fourth set. Two straight kills from Catalano extended the Rockets' advantage, 15-11. Pertzborn's 12^th kill of the night put Toledo in front by five, 21-16, and Heitkamp hammered home a termination to secure the match victory.

Up Next
The Rockets continue MAC play next weekend in Michigan. Toledo will meet Central Michigan on Friday, Oct. 3 at 6:00 p.m. and conclude the weekend at Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 4:00 p.m.

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