Sweat dripped down their faces, staining the jerseys of the Bowling Green and Ohio State volleyball players, reminding all 400 or so fans why the two teams were battling in the championship game of the BGSU Invitational Saturday night at Anderson Arena.
But when what appeared to be a mismatch at the start became an end-to-end footrace. The 12th ranked Buckeyes (6-1) were the fleetest, fighting off a furious rally by the Falcons (4-4) to win the match in five games, 30-23, 30-24, 27-30, 26-30, 15-9.”BG played great,” said Danielle Meyer, who had 25 kills and 17 digs for OSU. “They had their fans here and they gave a good game. It was a great learning experience for our team. We definitely knew that BG was the strongest team of our opponents this weekend.”
The Buckeyes hit .299 for the match and pounded down 84 kills compared to 64 for BGSU. Sophomore Ami Stevens led OSU with 26 kills to go along with 18 digs.
Emily Manser had a team-high 16 kills in the loss for the Falcons. Chrissy Gothke poured in 10 kills and 41 assists, while Meghan Mohr contributed nine kills.
Gothke and Mohr joined the Buckeyes’ Stevens and Meyer on the All Tournament Team.
The Falcons swept both matches against Chicago State (0-9) and East Carolina (4-5) heading into the matchup with OSU, but the Buckeyes used big runs in games one and two, taking a 2-0 advantage into the locker room.
BGSU coach Denise Van De Walle, who captured her 400th career victory with the win over Chicago State on Friday, said the team was lacking competitiveness.
“I was really disappointed with the first two games,” she said. “I really didn’t believe that was the best effort we could give, and so we went into the locker room and talked about – following directions. We didn’t have any fire, we didn’t have any fight. We had the 12th ranked team in our gym and we were just lying down.
“We came out – and looked like a much better team. Games three and four were two great games for us.”
Manser added nine kills and Gothke “challenged the OSU defense” at the setter position producing six kills and 24 assists, as the Falcons regrouped in game three.
The Falcons never trailed in game four.
Though when game five began, the sophomore duo of Stevens and Meyer put the Buckeyes on their backs and proceeded to carry them to victory.
BGSU jumped out to a 3-2 lead, but OSU scored the next four points. A timeout didn’t do much for the Falcons as they were outscored 9-6 to provide the final margin.
Van De Walle said she never felt like the team thought they could win.
“We were fighting to stay in it and I almost feel like because we’re so young, that we met the goal,” she said. “In game five, Danielle and Ami weren’t going to let Ohio State lose.
“No. 6 {Meyer} and No. 7 {Stevens} are exceptional,” she added. “They’re exceptional athletes, exceptional hitters and that’s where we don’t have the same matchup. We don’t have that big time go-to player developed yet.”
Van De Walle said the Falcons learned a lot about themselves this weekend.
“I think what we learned that we have perseverance and stamina, and we can work hard,” she said. “We proved we can compete with some of the best – I was really proud of our effort this weekend.”
