The BG women’s volleyball team put it together after two consecutive losses when they defeated Indiana-Purdue- Fort Wayne on Saturday at the Dayton Invitational.
The Falcons lost consecutive 3-1 matches to Illinois on Friday and Dayton early Saturday.
They bounced back for a victory by sweeping IPFW.
BG started well against Illinois, winning the first game 30-22. The team hit .389 for the game while holding the Illini to a .105 mark.
The Falcons lost two consecutive games by scores of 30-28.
In the third game BG fell 30-19 to lose the match 3-1.
Corey Domek led the team in kills with 18, while also hitting .485.
Chelsey Meek had 23 digs while three others had double digit digs. BG out-hit Illinois .231 to .222 for the match and also had six less hitting errors.
“We did a good job despite the record,” Domek said. “We saw some bigger teams in this tournament and we lost a lot of tight games as well. We just need to get used to each other and stay fired up.”
The Falcons fell again Saturday morning. This time it was at the hands of host Dayton. This match was close as well with BGSU losing the first game 30-24. BGSU had nine errors and nine kills in game one.
The Falcons rebounded to take a 32-30 win in game two. They hit .237 in the game, which would be their highest for the match. They would eventually drop the next two games 30-24 and 30-28.
Domek again led the Falcons in kills, this time with 15 while Stephanie Swiger had 12. Meek also again led the Falcons in digs with 26. The team hit a collective .140 while Dayton hit .224.
“Wow. What a hard fought match,” said Head Coach Denise Van De Walle. “If we would have passed the ball better and got a few more first-swing kills, we may have had a different outcome.”
The one bright spot on the weekend came when the Falcons swept IPFW.
BG won 30-26, 30-26, 30-28 to earn its first victory of the season.
Domek again led the team with 17 kills while Meghan Mohr recorded another double-double when she finished with 11 kills and 10 digs.
“The team is still trying to figure out our court personality and finding our flow,” Swiger said.
“Once we get our rhythm, then we will be tough to stop. But, that is why we play in these early season tournaments – to get rhythm and matches in.”
Domek was named to the All-Tournament team after racking up 50 kills and hitting .354.
“She was definitely our pick for all-tournament and had three great matches,” Van De Walle said.
“Her numbers were impressive and she was fun to watch this weekend.”
BG will play its home opener tonight at 7 p.m. against Oakland at Anderson Arena.
“Playing at home makes a big difference when you consider that we have a great home court advantage,” Swiger said. “We have the fans right on top of the action, screaming for us and that really rattles the other team.”
