Volleyball Splits Matches

The University of Toledo volleyball team opened Mid-American Conference play at home this weekend, losing a close call to Eastern Michigan 3-2 on Friday before sweeping Central Michigan on Saturday 3-0.

The Rockets now stand at 8-6, 1-1 MAC, on the early season.

“I don’t think we were there as a group cohesively,” said head coach Greg Smith “We had spot play when people were playing well; it just wasn’t a full team at the same time.”

Against Eastern Michigan, the stats were almost identical. Toledo recorded seven service aces compared to five for the Eagles.

Junior Saige Thomas led the UT offense with 14 kills and sophomore Gracey Tuifua added 10 terminations. Thomas was the leader of the offense again on Saturday, recording 17 kills.

Sophomore libero Maurissa Leonard and senior Maggie Johnston anchored the defense, recording a game-high 18 digs each on Friday. Leonard posted five service aces in the two games.

“We always talk about winning the serve and pass game,” Leonard said. “That’s something we’ve worked on with me since the spring.”

Sophomore Carly Townsend showed off her passing skills against Central Michigan, recording a team-high 34 assists.

Toledo scored their first point attacking on a kill by Thomas that tied the game at five early on. Then UT scored four straight, including kills by senior Mary O’Conner and freshman Zoe Birnbrich, to take a three-point lead.

It was back and forth until a Tuifua kill put the Rockets ahead 20-14. Toledo stretched the lead as big as eight, winning the set 25-17.

The Eagles came out strong in the second set, scoring four straight points to force UT into a timeout trailing 7-2.

Toledo answered, scoring three in a row of their own including an error, a block and was capped off by a Tuifua kill. Eastern Michigan responded with two kills and an ace to take a 17-10 lead.

A kill by senior Mary O’Conner cut the lead to four, but that was the closet the Rockets would get as the Eagles tied it at one set a piece.

A ball handling error, an ace from Leonard and a kill by Thomas put UT ahead 3-0 to start the third set. Eastern Michigan then took the lead with four straight points.

The Eagles rattled off five in a row putting them ahead 14-10 and forcing Toledo into a timeout. UT responded out of the timeout with three straight points capped off by an ace from Leonard.

The game went back and forth until Eastern Michigan took a four-point lead on two straight errors by the Rockets. UT scored three in a row of their own to tie the score at 23.

Eastern Michigan got two consecutive kills after a timeout to win the set.

A service ace from Maggie Johnston put UT ahead 5-3. It remained close until the Rockets scored nine in a row, including six errors from the Eagles.

Eastern Michigan would cut the lead to as low as eight, but UT slammed the door in their face 25-14, forcing a final set.

Toledo took an early 4-0 lead to start the deciding set, forcing the EMU timeout. The Eagles took the lead with a 6-0 run, including four kills, to take a 13-9 lead.

A Tuifua kill made the score 13-12, putting UT back in it, but she made two straight errors to give EMU the win 15-12.

Toledo came out strong on Saturday against Central Michigan, building a 5-1 lead helped by three CMU errors.

“It was just a different mindset when the whistle was blown,” said Smith.

The Chippewas responded to tie the score at five, but UT took control with four straight points capped by kills from Tuifua and Townsend.

The lead got as big as seven; CMU took five of the next six points to put them down 19-16. But a kill by Thomas made it 24-18, all but winning the set for the Rockets.

“We came out with energy and intensity, and we made changes from the coaches and the players,” said Leonard.

Central Michigan started the second set leading 5-2, but UT evened the score at five. Then Toledo took an 11-7 lead with a run ended by a Leonard ace and a kill by Tuifua.

Toledo led 21-20 before scoring four of the final five to win the set, putting them ahead 2-0.

Thomas began the third set with a kill, putting UT ahead 3-0. The lead stretched as big as six early in the match. The Rockets recorded three aces to help dominate the period, holding the Chippewas to only eleven points.

“It’s a lot more of the mental side we have to get better at,” Smith said when asked what the team can improve on. “Each day at practice we get a little better, so the stronger we are mentally, the less mistakes we’ll make.”

UT ended the match on a 4-0 run including two kills by O’Conner and one from Tuifua.

The midnight blue and gold return to action Thursday Sept. 29 as the take on Ball State on the road. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m.