Quite simply put, the Bowling Green volleyball team dominated a favored Akron team.
The Falcons twice dominated games, winning 30-22 in the first game and 30-21 in the third game in a strong showing for their last home game of the season. The only problem is that the Falcons failed to win the other three games, letting Akron squeak past them 32-30, 31-29, and 16-14 in their other three games, allowing Akron to walk out of Anderson Arena with a 3-2 victory.
“We had an opportunity to win,” head coach Denise Van De Walle said. “If we would’ve won game two, we could’ve had them 3-0. Then in game four, we let them slip away and in game five we let it slip away.”
The Zips played the Falcons close in the first game, getting the score to 17-16 midway through the game. But the Falcons simply blew the Zips away, outscoring them 13-6 during the rest of the game.
The second game was more of the same for BG as they outplayed Akron and took a strong 23-20 lead late in the frame. But Akron would fight away the Falcons and eventually slip away with a 32-30 win in the second game.
In the third game, the Falcons wound up falling behind the Zips, 13-7. It was at that point that the Falcons decided to take their game to another level, The Falcons would bring the game to a 17-17 score and then walk all over the Zips, outscoring them 13-4 the rest of the way.
It looked as if the Falcons were going to send the Zips home with their tail between their legs as they took a 20-13 lead to start the fourth game. But the Zips just wouldn’t go away and would fight their way back into the game and eventually win 31-29.
The final game of the night would see the Falcons jump out to an 8-5 lead at the final switch. But the pesky Zips would fight into the game for an eventual game win 16-14. The final game would give the Zips the match and the Falcons a heart-breaking loss. “The times we won, we would win by eight or nine points,” Van De Walle said. “They won their matches by two, we just weren’t being aggressive.”
The Falcons were led into battle by their seniors Suzie Norris (27 digs), Samantha Rennau (19 kills), and Nadia Bedricky (22 digs). But their efforts weren’t enough to lift the Falcons in their final home match.
Bedricky felt somewhat down after her last match at Anderson. “It’s sad,” she said. “You always want to win your last match.”
