Bowling Green volleyball won the first battle of I-75 of the season, with a four set win at Toledo
The win puts the team in the record books again. They set the record for the best start to a season in BGSU athletic history at 16-0. They are one win away from tying the program record for most consecutive wins, set at 17 by the 2006 team.
The match was a defensive showdown. BGSU hit for 19% in the match while Toledo hit for 9%.
The Falcons won the battle of the trenches. BGSU had 15 total blocks. The Rockets did have success on the front line with eight total blocks. Sophomore Madelynn Luebcke led the team in blocks with 3.5 total blocks.
Senior Katie Kidwell led the team in block assists with six. She now sits at 466 block assists in her career, tying Lisa Berardinelli for fifth all-time in program history.
BGSU was the cleaner team this match. The Rockets had 43 total errors while the Falcons had 27 total errors.
Junior Katelyn Meyer led the Falcons with 13 kills in the match. For the Rockets, freshman Taylor Alt led all players with 18 kills.
The Falcons cruised through the first set while the Rockets would struggle coming out the gate.
Toledo had four service errors in the set to go along with eight attacking errors. The Falcons’ defense had full control in the first set.
BGSU were the polar opposite, they were efficient. As a team, they hit for 50%. They only had two service errors and one attacking error.
Meyer led the offense with five kills. As a team, BGSU had 13 kills.
The Falcons eased their way to a 25-15 set win.
It was a competitive second set. Both teams did not score at an efficient clip.
BGSU hit for 9.1% while Toledo hit for 6.7%. The Rockets had the edge in kills, 15-7. The Falcons got creative in finding ways to score.
BGSU hosted a block party, getting 10 total blocks in the set. Senior Katie Kidwell and Luebcke each had four block assists to lead the team.
The serving game remained strong for the Falcons. They had three service aces in the set.
The Rockets continued to hurt themselves with errors. Toledo had 14 total errors compared to BGSU having 5 total errors.
The Falcons won the set 25-20 to set up the 2-0 match lead.
It would be the Falcons that could not stay error free in the third set. BGSU had eight attacking errors in the set.
Both teams would hit around 20% in the set. The Rockets gained their edge in front of the net. After getting blasted in the blocking category last set, Toledo had five total blocks in the third. BGSU only had two total blocks.
Early in the set, the score was tied at 12. Toledo went on a 6-0 run to gain the advantage. They would not give up the lead from that point on.
The Rockets held off a late Falcon comeback to win the set, 25-23. BGSU still had the 2-1 match lead.
Toledo rode their momentum from the third set into the fourth. They claimed the slim lead early in the set.
BGSU would claw back in the set. At the media timeout, the Falcons had the 15-14 lead.
The BGSU offense returned to their normal efficiency. In the set, they hit for 30%. The Falcons held the Rockets to 8.3%.
Freshman Katrin Trebichavska built on her performance from the third set. After collecting three kills in the third, Trebichavska led the team in kills with six.
The Falcons extended their lead after the media timeout, 20-17. Toledo would take a timeout. BGSU then took a 22-17 lead. Toledo took another timeout, but it would help the Rockets.
Out of the timeout, Toledo took the next two points to close the gap.
BGSU would not let Toledo back into the match. They ended the set on a 3-0 run with Kidwell getting the last two kills in the set.
The Falcons won 25-19 and would beat their rivals in four sets.
BGSU will return back to the Stroh for a Friday and Saturday series against Akron. The Friday game will start at 6 p.m. EST. The game will be streamed on ESPN +.
