Bowling Green State University volleyball completed a series sweep against Miami with a 3-2 set win.
With this win the Falcons have now won six-straight games to start the season as they move to 6-0 on the season. Miami falls to 3-3 with the loss.
This game marked the first time the Falcons would be behind in set wins during a match. BGSU had to come back down 2-0 to get the victory.
Sophomore Petra Indrova led the team in kills in this match with 19. Junior Katelyn Meyer was second with 16 kills.
Junior Hanna Laube recorded a career high 53 assists in the match.
Both teams would end the game with low hitting percentages. Miami would hit for 15.3% while BGSU would hit for 14.4%.
“This was a gritty, gritty match. I’m thrilled that we won. This was pure grit and resilience,” BGSU head coach Danijela Tomic said.
BGSU would struggle during the first set. In the first set, the Falcons would have 11 attacking errors. The Redhawks would have four. This was reflected in the poor hitting percentage from BGSU, which was -4.8%.
The Falcons would also struggle to gain any form of consistency from their front line. Miami had five blocks in the set compared to the one for BGSU.
Miami handled BGSU 25-18 and took the 1-0 match lead.
The Falcons looked cleaner in the second set. After having nine kills in the first set, the Falcons would collect 18 in the second set.
It was a back and forth affair in the second set. Both teams looked to gain a commanding hold on the set.
Towards the end of the set, BGSU would have a 23-20 lead. After a few kills and attack errors, Miami claimed the late lead 24-23 before BGSU called a timeout.
Both teams continued to claw their way towards a set win. In the end, the Redhawks kept their composure and took the set 28-26. Miami would have the 2-0 lead this time around heading into the third set.
BGSU would find their footing in the third set. After struggling with attack errors, the Falcons only had three errors on the set. They would outhit the Redhawks 31.2% to 8.3%.
The Falcons also protected the net better. They had four total blocks compared to the one block from the Redhawks.
The Falcons controlled most of the set. They once had an 18-11 lead before Miami called a timeout. The Redhawks would make a couple runs to close the gap.
BGSU eventually took the set 25-21, but Miami still had the match lead 2-1.
The blitz continued for the Falcons. Early in the set, BGSU went on a 8-2 run to take a 10-4 lead. They would hit for 35.1% with 15 kills.
In the first two sets, BGSU had a combined 22 attacking errors. In the third and fourth set, they had a combined five attacking errors.
The Falcons won the set without much resistance, 25-16. After being down 2-0, BGSU forced a fifth set.
“We always tell our team, just oe point at a time. Just play each point and let’s see,” Tomic said.
BGSU continued their hot streak into the fifth set. They opened the set on a 5-0 run.
It would turn out to be a dog fight of a set for both teams. Each team had a hitting percentage of 0%.
The Falcons would have a 11-4 lead. Miami would then go on a 7-2 run to get within two points of BGSU.
With a chance to end the set and the match, Laube recorded the final kill to seal the Falcons 15-13 win and the 3-2 match win.
Despite being down early, the team never wavered and remained confident throughout the match.
“It was definitely a team effort. It showed our grit. We were down two sets, but we knew we were not losing this match,” Indrova said.
BGSU will be on the road next week against Ball State. It will be a rematch of last season’s MAC championship game. The first game will be on Thursday and is set to start at 7 p.m. EST.
