The University volleyball team started conference play this week, with games against Miami and Northern Illinois. Conference play kicked off for the Falcons on Thursday as they played the Miami Redhawks at home in the Stroh Center. The Redhawks, the favorites to win the MAC East this season, beat the Falcons in three close sets, with scores of 26-24, 25-22 and 25-22. Jelena Sunjic led the team in kills at 15, while Alyssa Maloney contributed to the team’s efforts, producing 13 kills of her own. Madeline Garda, who leads the nation in digs at 6.50 digs/set increased her average to 6.57 digs/set after recording 23 digs in the match.
The team was very frustrated as they dropped their opening conference game.
“It’s disappointing, of course, to start conference play with a loss at home, we knew that it was going to be a really hard match against Miami,” Head Volleyball Coach Danijela Tomic said. “They were on a seven-match winning streak like us, too. They are a very good team. We knew that we would need to play a very high level of volleyball.” Head Volleyball Coach Danijela Tomic said.
The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Falcons, as they faced their best competition of the season so far in the matchup against Miami. It didn’t get much easier for the Falcons, as they were up against Northern Illinois on the road in DeKalb, Illinois. Northern Illinois is the projected MAC West champions for the season.
Despite the Falcon’s broken winning streak on the road, it has not affected their confidence.
“I haven’t even noticed (any change). It’s easier to play on the road, because there isn’t as much pressure with not playing in front of family members,” Coach Tomic said.
The Huskies of Northern Illinois had a great start, winning the first two sets 25-14 and 25-15. Coming out of the break after set 2, the Falcons looked like an improved team, winning the set 25-16. However, in set four, the Huskies closed the match with a 25-16 set win, leading to a victory over the Falcons for the match. Sunjic led the team with 19 kills, as Garda contributed with 21 digs. It was apparent that the size of the Huskies was a key factor for their victory. The Huskies tallied 15 blocks against the Falcons, making it difficult for the Falcons to get anything over the net.
“The positive from this is that some of our young players got very valuable playing experience and our four seniors were true leaders, and overall played well,” Coach Tomic said. “We will get back to the gym next week and continue working on getting better in the areas that we were exposed in playing two of the toughest teams in the MAC.”
Next on the Falcons schedule, BG will play Ohio University on Fri., September 30th at home.
