Rockets Volleyball wins both games over Homecoming weekend

The University of Toledo women’s volleyball team won both of their games last homecoming weekend, defeating Ohio University on Friday 3-1 before beating Kent State 3-2 on Saturday night.
On Friday, third-year players Annie Beasley, Rachel Vidourek and Saige Thomas powered the Toledo offense with 11, 10 and 18 kills, respectively. The back end was anchored by second-year Maurissa Leonard with 19 digs. Three other Rockets had double digits digs as well.
“We had a great team win tonight,” said head coach Greg Smith. “We knew Ohio would be a tough team to defeat. Even when they were down by two, we know they would find a way to come back.”
UT only trailed one time in the first set and only by a 1-0 deficit. They took an early lead thanks to a good offense, including two service aces by Leonard.

The Bobcats battled back to cut the lead to as low as one point before Toledo rattled off four straight in a row to put them ahead 16-11. The teams traded points until Toledo scored four out of five points to build a 23-19 advantage. With the Rockets only needing one point to win the set, The Bobcats scored two in a row to make it a one-point game and forcing a UT timeout.
Toledo then won the set on a service error by Ohio.
The teams battled early in the second set with neither group really gaining or holding a lead. The Rockets took three of four points to take a 13-10 lead, which they held for some time.
The Bobcats attempted to make it close, but they committed five errors out of the last six Toledo points. In the end, the Rockets won the set 25-20.
UT held a slim lead to start the third set until a 5-0 OU run gave them an 11-9 lead. Toledo bounced back to tie the game at 18 due to solid offense by Beasley and second-year Carly Townsend. Both teams traded the lead at the end but the Bobcats scored four of the last five points to take the set 25-22.
The Rockets again looked to close out the match but could not gain an edge in the fourth set. They did manage to take a 15-11 lead into the media timeout. UT scored the final eight points of the set to win 25-14 and finish the match. The run included five errors by the Bobcats.
On Saturday, Beasley was back at it against Kent State, registering a career-high 18 kills. Thomas and Vidourek were also in double figures for the set. Defensively, Leonard once again led the way with 18 digs.
The Rockets jumped out to an early lead that they did not let go. The lead grew to six points before Kent State scored two in a row to make the score 16-13. Toledo scored the last five points of the set to win 25-17, including two kills by Beasley.
Kent State evened things up by dominating the second set. Toledo recorded only a .029 attack percentage in the set. They went on a 4-0 run to take an early four-point lead 8-4. Then a five-point run in the middle set broke it open.
UT did not manage enough offense to make a comeback and lost the set 25-14.
Both teams traded the lead at the beginning of the third set but a 3-0 Toledo run put them ahead 14-11. The Golden Flashes slowly closed the gap until they tied it at 22 forcing a UT timeout. Kent State took three of the four points out of the timeout and won the set 25-23.