Stories courtesy of MAC Athletic Communication Departments

Thursday’s Volleyball results
Toledo 3, Belmont 0
Cleveland State 3, Kent State 0
Akron 3, Youngstown State 0
#15 Tennessee 3, Western Michigan 1
Ball State 3, Butler 0
 
Toledo 3, Belmont 0 | Box Score
The Toledo women's volleyball team won its fourth-straight match on Thursday evening as the Rockets swept Belmont, 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-19) in the first match of the Jackrabbit Invitational in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Toledo (7-3) was led offensively by Izzy Granger, who recorded ten kills on 15 attempts and no errors, setting a career-best hitting percentage of .667. Granger added five digs and three blocks throughout the match. Fifth-year senior Taylor Alt also totaled ten kills and poured in five digs and three blocks.

Freshman libero Grace Freiberger had a team-high 12 digs, while sophomore setter Macy Hatkevich and graduate setter Ella Abraham added 19 and 17 assists, respectively. Redshirt freshman Sierra Pertzborn led the Rockets up front with four total blocks, adding eight kills on a .583 clip, the second-best hitting percentage of her career. Junior Anna Alford tallied three total blocks of her own in her first start of the season.

The Rockets tallied a .349 hitting percentage as a team, their second-best clip of the season.
 
Akron 3, Youngstown State 0 | Box Score
The Akron volleyball team needed just three sets (25-18, 25-21, 25-23) to beat the Youngstown State Penguins Thursday at James A Rhodes Arena.

The Zips were led by a double-double from Lauren Baker, who registered 14 kills and 10 digs on the day. Emanouela Christodoulou also added 10 kills while Gabby Brissett tacked on eight kills to help the attack. Eliska Vytiskova served up 23 assists while Martina Villani added 16. On the defensive end, Vanessa Del Real chipped in for with 15 digs to go with four blocks from Karleighana Jones and four more from Christodoulou.

The out-of-conference victory improved Akron's overall record to 4-7 on the season.

Game Notes
» Del Real had a team-high two aces in the win.
» Baker registered a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs. She's recorded double-doubles in consecutive games and has four on the season.
» Baker had a match-high 14 kills for Akron.
» Akron got a team-high 15 digs from Del Real.
» Akron attackers were helped by a match-high 23 assists from Vytiskova.
 
Ball State 3, Butler 0 | Box Score
The Ball State women's volleyball team hit a blistering .522 (13-1-23) in the opening set and never looked back, securing a 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-20) sweep of in-state rival Butler Thursday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Cardinals (6-4) finished the night hitting a season-best .341 (41-11-88) as a team, led by another strong performance from freshman outside Carson Tyler. She led all players with 13 kills and connected for a career-best .524 (13-2-21) rate of success. 

Tyler also added seven digs, one short of the team high, a solo block, and was nearly flawless in serve receive by successfully passing 19 of the team-high 20 serves she faced.

Overall, nine different Cardinals recorded at least one kill, including sophomore setter, who executed a perfect setter dump to close the second set. It was the first kill of her collegiate career. Graduate middle Aayinde Smith and sophomore outside Kendall Barnes were second on the squad with seven kills apiece.

In addition to the offensive pressure, the Cardinals dropped a season-high nine service aces on the Bulldogs (2-8). Three of those aces came from senior setter, who raised her career total to 157. 

Wielonski also dished out 34 assists and was credited with a team-high eight digs in the sweep. Junior opposite Madison Buckley led the Ball State front line with three total blocks while adding six kills.

The Ball State defense limited the Butler attack to a .133 (27-16-83). Butler was paced offensively by Elise Ward's ten kills, while Jersey Loyer collected a team-high nine digs.