The Falcons volleyball team broke even this week, losing the first match to the Miami RedHawks and winning the second against the Western Michigan Broncos. The matchup against Miami on Thursday was the second meeting between the two teams this season, with Miami winning the first matchup as well. With scores of 25-20, 25-22 and 25-20, the Falcons played a tough matchup against the top team in the Mid-American Conference. Senior outside hitter Jelena Sunjic posted 18 kills for the Falcons, and the team racked up a total 39 kills in comparison to Miami’s 41. It was an even matchup offensively and a back-and-forth contest. Senior defensive specialist Madeline Garda also posted 24 digs in the contest and the nation’s leader in digs was able to capture her 1,500th career dig in the contest.
Falcons head coach Danijela Tomic was aware of the toughness her team would face.
“We knew going into the match against the top, undefeated team in the conference that all of our players had to play up to their potential and execute the game plan if we wanted a chance to win,” Tomic said. “That unfortunately did not happen, and the outcome was what we got. Miami did a good job of shutting down our outside hitters, and when that happens, it is hard to win against anybody. Our serve receive was below our standard, and that created a one-dimensional offense, which was easier to defend. The bright spots were our team defense with three players with double-digit digs, led by Madeline’s impressive 24-dig effort. Jelena led our offense with 18 kills, and only had three errors. But unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to beat Miami. Our team has done a nice job of bouncing back after losses this season. I expect we will do that again on Saturday against Western Michigan.”
On Saturday, the Falcons had a better outcome at the Stroh Center, winning in three sets with scores of 25-20, 27-25 and 25-19. Garda was back at it again, posting a total of 33 digs. Her tremendous performance is what cultivated the Falcons to win the matchup, along with a great performance by Sunjic, who recorded 20 kills.
“Today, during our scouting session, I told our players that their record does not represent how good they are,” Tomic said. “So, we were ready. We really respected that they have some nice, nice players. They hit slide really well, and that is something that we are struggling with and we are still getting better at defending. Maddie had a monster game – 33 digs total. And when I saw after the second set that she had 21 digs in the second set, I had to check and see if that was for real. She’s just playing at a really high level, and helping our team.”
The Falcons now stand with a 17-8 overall record and 7-5 record in the MAC. Next up for the Falcons will be a duo of road games. The team will travel on Friday to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes and will then travel on Saturday to take on the Ohio Bobcats.
