Rockets spike back

The Toledo Rockets volleyball team lost two of three matches this past weekend at the Diet Coke Invitational in Minnesota.
The Rockets defeated Green Bay 3-2 in their first match. Toledo didn’t get off to the greatest start, dropping the first set to Green Bay, 18-25.
The Rockets came back in the second set and matched the Phoenix’s score, in what was an evenly played match. The match continued to go back and forth through four sets, with each team winning one. In the decisive fifth set, Green Bay took an early 3-2 lead, but Toledo came back with a strong four-point charge.
The Phoenix would only manage to get as close as two points from there on out, as the Rockets won the set 15-9. The match improved Toledo’s record to 7-3 on the season.
“I feel like we continually improve each week as a team,” said coach Greg Smith. “We played the most consistently against Green Bay, and that showed with a quality win.”
Junior Saige Thomas and sophomore Gracey Tuifua led the Rockets with 15 and 14 kills, respectively. Junior Rachel Vidourek finished with 13 kills.
Toledo’s next test was against the host, and third-ranked nationally, Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers dominated majority of the match, with a .347 kill percentage and a 17-5 block advantage. The Rockets put together a solid effort and lost a close one in the second set, 25-22.
However, Minnesota was just too dominant, sweeping the match 3-0. Tuifua led the Rockets with nine kills in the match.
“Against number 2 Minnesota we started off a bit slowly, but once we got our feet under us we finished out the first set well,” said Smith. “That carried over into the second set where we played a really tight set with them. If we could change how we played a couple of points, it would have changed the outcome of that set. Unfortunately, we couldn’t sustain that level of play in the third.”
Toledo was again swept later in the day by North Dakota, contesting each set closely, but never being able to finish. Though the final score read 3-0, the sets went 25-23, 25-17, 25-23.
“In the North Dakota match we came out flat, and as a result we didn’t have the outcome we wanted,” said Smith. “We have some things to work on to continue our progression as a team.”
Thomas led the Rockets with 12 kills on the match. Toledo opens up conference play next weekend as they return home to host Eastern and Central Michigan at Savage Arena.
“We are excited to start the MAC schedule this Friday at home versus Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan on Saturday,” Smith said.