The Falcons went on the road this weekend to finish their regular season away matches. The Falcons won on the road Friday against the Kent State Golden Flashes and lost on Saturday on the road to the Ohio Bobcats. The weekend altered the Falcons’ overall record to 18-9 and 8-6 in conference play.
In the matchup on Friday, the Falcons beat the Bobcats in four sets. With scores of 25-21, 25-11, 20-25 and 25-20, it was a tough and exciting matchup for Bowling Green that ended with a victory for the Falcons. Jelena Sunjic had a powerful performance, recording 18 kills to go along with 16 for Jessi Holly. The two seniors also recorded four blocks each, which contributed to the 11 blocks in total recorded by the team. Madeline Garda recorded 26 digs in total, as she continues to lead the nation in both total digs and digs/set. It was a great performance all around by the team, as they won a hard fought road battle with a conference rival.
Head Volleyball Coach Danijela Tomic was very impressed by her team’s performance against the Kent State Golden Flashes,
“This was a great road win over a tough Kent State team, I am so proud of the effort that our team showed, especially defensively, led by Madeline (Garda), Kallie and Delaney. Alyssa, Jelena and Jessi were outstanding offensively against a very good Kent State defense,” Coach Tomic said. “In the three sets that we won, we put a lot of pressure on KSU with aggressive serving, and we took them out of system, which helped us have one of our better blocking matches. Madeline Brandewie had a great blocking match tonight.”
On Saturday, the Falcons traveled to Athens to take on the Bobcats of Ohio University. The Falcons lost in an exciting five-set, thrilling matchup. With scores of 18-25, 25-20, 34-36, 25-21 and 25-12, the Bobcats were able to knock off the Falcon’s in a great matchup. Sunjic had a terrific performance, recording 24 kills. Maloney recorded 16 of her own, while Holly recorded 13 of her own. Garda tied her season high of 38 digs in the matchup. The nation’s leader in digs continues to impress as she now holds an average of 6.66 digs/set.
“I am so proud of our team and the warrior spirit that we showed tonight, it hurts to lose such a close match, especially after that unbelievable comeback and fight to win the third set. That set showed how tough we are and that we never give up. There are so many good things that we did tonight, and that we will build on,” Coach Tomic said. “The credit goes to Ohio for making the plays and making less errors when it mattered most in the fourth and fifth sets. This was a good rehearsal for us in preparation for the MAC Tournament, because we will learn from tonight’s loss, and will be better in the deciding fifth set that we might need to play in the MAC Tournament.”
