The Falcons took on the Kent State Golden Flashes at the Stroh and won in 3 closely matched sets on Nov. 5.
The first set never got away from either team, and both sides had success offensively. Both teams continued to match each other’s kills and led to them both scoring above a .300 hitting percentage.
It was Kent State who pulled away to get the set point after a timeout called by Coach Tomic. The Falcons came back to push the set into extra points with a kill from Petra Indrova and an ace from Alex Laboy. This 3-0 run sent the set into a final score of 27-25 after Katelyn Meyer finished it off with another kill.
Moving into the second set of play, the Falcons switched up the pace of play by changing the setter from Hannah Laube to Jaden Walz.
The Falcons also are having to utilize their bench right now with Kat Mandly and Katie Kidwell being out currently.
The Falcons were off to a rough start as the Flashes led early in the game with a 9-4 lead. The Falcons fought back with a few kills from Nikolija Katanic and Indrova, each assisted by Walz.
The set continued to go back and forth, as it had all night. With both teams tied at 23-23, a pair of kills from Meyer and a double block from Indrova and Madelynn Luebcke allowed the Falcons to claim their second set win of the night.
Going into the third set, the Falcons seemed to be feeling more confident and the Golden Flashes were starting to feel the pressure. Kent State was quick to call a timeout after an early 5-0 lead coming from two aces led by Yelianiz Torres and a kill each from Meyer and Indrova.
The Flashes fought back with a quick three points, but BGSU quickly answered with yet another 5-0 run. Both teams proved to be struggling behind the service line at this point in the game, which contributed to easy points from mistakes.
What seemed to be an easy last set for the Falcons turned into a nail-biter at the end, but the Falcons still came away with a win and a final score of 25-19.
The Falcons travel to Athens for a doubleheader next weekend against Ohio University. The games are on Nov. 12 and 13, starting at 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.
Moving into Saturday’s game, at 5 p.m the Falcons and the Flashes met once again in the Stroh for another evenly matched night of back and forth play. Saturday was also a night to recognize the seniors after the game, but the Falcons made sure to give the Kent State seniors a moment before they battled it out on the court.
The first set started off looking very similar to the first set of the previous night and it was unclear who was going to have the upper hand. The Falcons took a timeout mid-set with hopes to regain composure after barely taking the lead and making the score 14-13. The Flashes came out of the timeout and decided to take the lead until the score was sitting at 23-22, Kent State. Indrova proved to once again get points when her team needed it the most and sent the Falcons into a winning first set with her 8th kill of the night.
The name of the game this weekend was trading points and tying up the score, so you guessed it, this is what the second set started to look like too. It was Mathews for Kent State that was leading them offensively and putting pressure on the Falcon blockers. Madelyn Luebcke responded well, registering with 7 blocks by the end of the night, and the majority coming from the second set. Indrova assisted Luebcke and they went on a quick 3-0 run. Flashes needed to do something and they decided to start off with a timeout. This did not stop Bowling green as they continued to further their run and the set ended with another Falcon win and a score of 25-21.
The final set of the doubleheader weekend matchup started off with both teams just playing with the mindset of who wants it more. Mathews and Gardner worked together to try and defend sharply and put pressure on the Falcons team, and they were successful at tying it up twice before the media timeout. Quickly after the media timeout, the Falcons pulled away, not feeling the pressure, and ended the night with a sweep and a score of 25-18. Indrova led the Falcons with 23 kills, a new season-best, and the Falcons continue to be undefeated in the Stroh this season.
Overall, two nights of intense and crowd on their toes play, the Falcons will stand with a record of being 14-1 in the MAC and will take on the Ohio Bobcats next weekend in the Bobcats home gym.
