Over Fall Break, while most Bowling Green students were away at home, visiting family and friends during the extended weekend, the Falcons volleyball team was on a weekend road trip. The Falcons faced the Akron Zips and the Buffalo Bulls. The team successfully completed the weekend, winning both of the two road conference matches.
On Friday night, the Falcons were in Akron to take on the Zips. Despite Akron’s poor record of 5-12, the Zips played a competitive match against the Falcons. With scores of 25-21, 19-25, 25-19, and 25-23, Akron nearly forced the fifth set, making for a very exciting match. Jelena Sunjic, Isabel Kovacic, and Jessi Holly combined for a total of 40 kills, with Sunjic leading the way with 17. Offensively, it was a very even match as Bowling Green posted a total of 56 kills while Akron posted 51. Senior libero/ defensive specialist, Madeline Garda, dominated as her defense was the key to victory. Garda, the nation’s leader in digs/set improved her average to 6.53 digs/set as she tallied 35 digs, the second most in school history, behind her own record of 40.
“I was pleased to see our outside hitters, Jessi Holly and Isabel Kovacic, contribute offensively,” Falcons head coach Danijela Tomic said. “Our setter-middle connection wasn’t where it needed to be. Jelena and Madeline had their standard, high-level performance and were instrumental in our win.”
The following night, the Falcons continued northeast to take on the Buffalo Bulls Saturday night. In a three-set victory with scores of 25-18, 25-23, and 25-23, senior Sunjic was back at it again, totaling 19 kills in the match. Kovacic ended her consistent weekend tallying 12 kills again. Garda had 26 digs in the three set matchup, improving her national-leading average of digs/set to 6.63 digs/set. The victory improved the Falcons to 13-6 on the season and 3-3 in MAC conference play.
It was apparent that the Falcons looked to be gaining confidence throughout the last few weeks, as they have been starting to play a more polished game.
“Our team showed that we are maturing and developing more resiliency and mental toughness,” Tomic said. “We performed better in the red zone than we did last weekend. Next week, we will get back to the gym and work on the things that were exposed as areas that we need to improve on, and that will allow us to continue to get better as team.”
Now up for the Falcons, a weekend road trip to face Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. On Friday, the Falcons will travel to Central Michigan to take on the Chippewas in Mount Pleasant. Then, on Saturday, the Falcons will travel to Eastern Michigan to take on the Eagles in Ypsilanti. The Falcons will finally be back home next weekend on Oct. 21 and 22, to host the Ball State Cardinals and Toledo Rockets.
