Bowling Green Athletic Communications

Women's Volleyball

Toledo Upsets No.1 Seeded Ball State to Play in Sunday's MAC Championship Title Match!

Recap courtesy of Toledo's Athletic Communications Department

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The No. 4-seeded Toledo women's volleyball team rallied to win a back-and-forth battle against No. 1-seeded Ball State 3-2 (15-25, 28-26, 26-28, 28-26, 15-10) on Saturday to clinch a spot in the Mid-American Conference Championship match.

The Rockets (22-10) now advance to face the winner of the Bowling Green-Western Michigan semifinal match at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. Tomorrow's match will mark the first-ever MAC Championship match appearance in program history.

Toledo trailed 2-1 heading into the fourth set and fought off match point four times before rallying to force the fifth set.

Four Rockets totaled double-digit kills, led by redshirt junior Sophie Catalano with 15 terminations, including six kills in the critical fourth set.

Sophomore Olivia Heitkamp and freshman Jessica Costlow each totaled 13 kills. Costlow recorded a .308 clip, fired off a team-high three service aces, and chipped in 14 digs for her seventh double-double this season.

Redshirt sophomore Sierra Pertzborn tallied 12 kills and added two blocks to become the single-season program leader in blocks, totaling 133 throughout the 2025 campaign. Pertzborn bested Wendy Vogel's record of 131 blocks set during the 1986 season.

Sophomore libero Grace Freiberger had 25 digs to mark her 14th contest this season with 20 or more digs. Senior setter Kelsey Smith recorded 47 assists and 17 digs on the night, tallying her 16th double-double this season.

The Rockets totaled 10 blocks for the second consecutive match, led by senior Anna Alford with a team-high five blocks.

Quoting Head Coach Brian Wright
"I loved how aggressive we played and I loved our mentality today. Our confidence in each other never wavered throughout tonight's match. At the end of the day, this is a team that is super resilient, confident and consistent. This team has constantly brought the program up to new levels throughout the season, so we are excited and pumped up for tomorrow's match."  

Key Moments
  • Back-to-back service aces from Ball State put them ahead early in the first, 4-1. Jessica Costlow tallied her first kill of the day to get Toledo within two, 8-6, before a 7-1 run from the Cardinals extended their lead to eight, 15-7. A service ace from Grace Freiberger put UT within six, 18-12, but BSU finished out the set on a 5-0 run to take the win.
  • The Rockets and Cardinals traded points throughout the first half of the second set. Ball State fired off a quick 4-0 run to take a slight lead, 16-13, before Toledo responded with a 5-1 run of their own, thanks to kills from from Sierra Pertzborn and Costlow, to take a slight advantage, 20-18. Catalano buried a kill to keep UT ahead by two, 23-21, and a Ball State error put the Rockets at set point, 24-23. The Cardinals surged ahead with two quick points to reach their own set point, 25-24. Kills from Costlow and Olivia Heitkamp put Toledo back at set point, 25-24, and a block from Kelsey Smith and Pertzborn gave UT the set victory.
  • A 5-0 run by the Rockets put the team ahead early in the third set, 8-3. A kill from Heitkamp kept UT in front, 12-7, before Ball State fired off a quick 3-0 run to cut the lead to two, 12-10. Costlow tallied her second ace of the day to keep UT in the lead, 17-12, and a 5-1 run by the Cardinals evened the set, 22-22. After reaching set point on a block from Heitkamp and Pertzborn, 25-24, both teams traded points. Ball State ended the set on a 3-0 run and fired off a block to take the set win.
  • Catalano tallied three quick kills and a solo block to kick off the fourth set and take a slight lead, 4-3. Ball State tallied three-straight points to get back in front, 10-9. Both sides traded points in the middle of the frame before a 4-0 surge by the Rockets put UT ahead, 19-17. The Cardinals responded with a 5-0 run of their own to take a 22-19 lead. An ace from Costlow put UT within one, 24-23, and the Rockets fended off four match points and used a 3-0 run, capped off by a kill from Heitkamp, to force a fifth set.
  • Catalano's 13th kill of the match put Toledo ahead in the fifth set, 4-2. An ace from Macy Medors put UT up by four, 7-3, and forced a Ball State timeout. A solo block from Costlow kept Toledo in front, 9-5, and an error from the Cardinals put UT at match point, 14-8. The Cardinals got within four, 14-10, but an attack error from BSU helped Toledo tally the winning point to advance to the championship match.
Up Next
Toledo will take on the winner of the Western Michigan-Bowling Green match in the MAC Championship on Sunday, Nov. 23. First serve is set for 4:00 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+.