As Bowling Green State University prepares for the upcoming fall break, the volleyball team takes off for a weekend road trip against two MAC opponents. On Friday, the Falcons will play the Akron Zips, and they’ll play the Buffalo Bulls on Saturday.
The Falcons, who are currently 11-6 and 1-3 in conference play, are coming off their first conference win of the season this past Saturday against Kent State.
The Falcons won 3-1 in that matchup, and looked like the impressive team they have been during non-conference portion of this season’s schedule.
Head Volleyball Coach, Danijela Tomic, made it apparent that the win relieves a lot of pressure the Falcons had trying to get their first conference win.
“I think the monkey is finally off our backs. I think this was more mental for our team, and we needed to win that second set…I told them at the end of the match that I’m very proud of them to bounce back this way. I told them before the match, ‘let’s see what we are made of.’ This is what good teams do. We are going to hit adversity, but let’s learn from that adversity and be better, and that’s what we did tonight. So, I am very proud of them,” she said.
Akron, who has looked dismal so far this season, is currently 5-11 and are on a four-game losing streak after losing the first four conference games of the season so far.
The Zips average 12.60 kills/set and 13.91 digs/set. Led by Head Volleyball Coach, Tom Hanna, the Zips are led by seniors Amanda Beddel and Breanna Mack. Beddel, outside hitter, averages 2.68 kills/set, while Mack averages 3.69 digs/set as a libero/defensive specialist.
Other key contributors for the Zips are Patence Brown and Madi Baer. Brown, a sophomore, averages 2.55 kills/set. Baer, also a sophomore, averages 2.16 kills/set.
After the Friday matchup with Akron, the Falcons will continue on the road, as they will face Buffalo the very next night.
The Bulls, who are 2-15 with wins over Bucknell and Akron, are struggling this season and are currently 1-4 in MAC conference play.
The team averages 10.27 kills/set and 11.81 digs/set. The Bulls are led by sophomore outside hitter, Valisha Watkins who averages 2.23 kills/set.
The Falcons, who have been the surprise of the MAC conference this season, are looking to win two important games this weekend, as it will keep them in contention in the MAC rankings.
With Seniors Jelena Sjunic and Madeline Garda, the national leader in digs/set, leading the way for the Falcons, Bowling Green should be in good position to come out victorious from both matches this weekend.
Both matches will be available for listeners via Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization.
After this weekend, the Falcons will head back on the road the following weekend for a Michigan road trip. On October 14th, the Falcons will then travel to Central Michigan and then to Eastern Michigan on October 15th.
