Volleyball finishes season at year-end MAC tournament

The University of Toledo women’s volleyball team wrapped up their season in the Mid-American Conference tournament this weekend. They defeated Kent State 3-2 in a first round battle on Thursday before falling in the quarterfinal 3-0 to Ohio the next day.
Against Kent State, four Rockets had ten or more kills and included an attack led by third-year Saige Thomas with a match-high 20 kills. Second-year Gracey Tuifua tied her career high with 17 kills and fourth-year Mary O’Conner followed her with 13.
Second-year Carly Townsend distributed the ball well with a career-high 64 assists. Fourth-year Maggie Johnston anchored the defense with a season-high 28 digs. Second-year libero Maurissa Leonard was next on the team with 13 digs.
“The first game is always the toughest,” said head coach Greg Smith. “They did a great job taking care of business.”

The score was all even in the first set until the Golden Flashes went on a 9-3 run to take a six-point lead. They rode on that lead for most of the set. UT cut it to one 23-22, but Kent State finished the set with a kill by Lexi Mantas and an attack error by the Rockets.
The Rockets opened the second set 4-1, trying to even things up. Kent State tied the game at four and the teams remained tied until UT captured a 13-11 lead.
The lead was slim, but Toledo managed to hold it. Their defense prevented the Golden Flashes from gaining any momentum offensively; UT won the set 25-19 after kills by O’Conner and Tuifua.
“We lost the first set, but we came back and I thought we gained a lot of momentum,” Smith said.
The Rockets started the third set on fire. They weren’t making mistakes were attacking effectively, jumping out to a 20-9 advantage. Kent State did not take this laying down, as they responded with an 11-4 run of their own to cut the lead to four points. Townsend set up Tuifua for the kill to win the set 25-20.
The fourth set was a toss-up the entire time. It featured 16 ties and nine lead changes, with the Golden Flashes looking to keep their season alive.
UT scored five straight to take a 24-20 lead, forcing a Kent State timeout. They then responded with four straight points to force extra-points. After the teams battled for nearly 40 minutes, Mantas gave Kent State the win with two kills.
The final set was much like the others. The teams went back and forth until UT took a 10-8 lead on three straight points, all assisted by Townsend. Toledo took three of the last four points to take the set and the match.
These matches set up a showdown with the third seed Ohio Bobcats. They defeated the Rockets in straight sets to put an end to their 2016 season.
Third-year Annie Beasley spearheaded the offense with 11 kills, and Thomas was right behind her with 10 kills; O’Conner added nine.
Leonard was the leader on defense for the Rockets with 11 digs. Townsend and Johnston each added nine.
“We’re disappointed in losing that match,” Smith said. “We played a tough Ohio team that exploited some of our weaknesses.”
The Bobcats grabbed the early lead and held most of the first frame. UT came back to even things up at 18, thanks to a service ace. They even held their first lead 21-20, but OU shut the door and won the set 25-23.
Toledo gained confidence and jumped out to an early lead in the second set. OU scored six straight points to take a three-point lead. The Rocket offense was shut down at that point, having five shots blocked by the end of the set. Ohio won the set 25-14 while holding UT to its lowest attack percentage of the tournament.
The Rockets were playing for their season in the third set as they jumped out to 10-4 advantage. The Bobcats used a quick 9-3 run to tie the frame at 13. The teams remained close the entire set.
Thomas made a huge kill to put UT behind 24-23 and they quickly called timeout. But the kills leader for the Bobcats Jaime Kosoirek came out with a kill that ended Toledo’s season.
“I’m very proud of our team and the season they’ve had overall. This is a huge step for our program and for moving forward in the future,” Smith said.
The midnight blue and gold finish the season 16-14 and 8-8 in MAC play