The bounce in the Bowling Green State volleyball team’s step returned in time
for the third set of yesterday’s match against Ohio, who came into Anderson
Arena with a 6-0 Mid-American Conference.
Any emotional remnants left from the previous two sets were swept aside by a reassuring sense of optimism and confidence that BGSU’s hopes of upsetting OU were not shattered and left in pieces, despite being outscored 60-34 in the losses.
The Bobcats wasted little time giving the Falcons their first lead of the game after starting the third set with a service error.
Both teams exchanged points, until a service error by OU’s Julia Winkfield gave BGSU a 6-5 lead, followed by one of Taylor Twite’s six kills which put the Falcons ahead by two, 7-5.
BGSU quickly took an 11-7 advantage on Mareski’s kill, prompting Bobcat’s head coach Geoff Carlston to use a timeout.
OU responded with a 4-0 run forcing the Falcons to call a timeout, but the Bobcat’s were still able to open up a three point advantage at 18-15.
BGSU tied the set 24-24, however, OU’s depth and talent took over as the Bobcats ended the set with a 6-1 run to capture the 3-0 sweep, which was their fifth straight.
Carlston said the Falcons were the toughest team OU (15-2, 7-0) faced during their five-game roadtrip.
“We’re pretty happy with this win … Bowling Green is a very good team,” he said. “We really challenged our players to come in more focused {after a sluggish performance against UT the night before} and we knew would have to just because Bowling Green is a extremely athletic team, they got three seniors really taking care of business and a couple of really good freshmen.
“We’re happy to come into Bowling Green and get a win with the way Bowling Green has been playing,” Carlston added. “Bowling Green’s still going to do some damage in the remainder of the season and we may see them again in the MAC Tournament.”
The loss put BGSU’s MAC record at 5-3 – third place in the West Division -and 12-8 overall.
Freshman Stephanie Swiger, who led the Falcons with eight kills and a .273 hitting percentage, said it was a tough match for the team.
“We knew that OU was a good team and (assistant coach) Mark (Hardaway) and Coach (Denise) Van De Walle tried to speed up practice all week to try to prepare for a fast offense,” she said. “We give them (OU) a lot of credit. We did what we could, but we thought we could have played a lot better.”
Maggie Karges chipped in with five digs and seven kills for BGSU, followed by Emily Manser’s six kills.
Mareski, who also had 28 set assists, and Melissa Mohr had five kills piece. Defensively, BGSU was led by Chrissy Gothke’s 13 digs and Madeline Means came off the bench to contribute five.
Mohr said it took awhile for the Falcons to adjust to the pace of the game.
“Ohio is a great team … They were physical fast and hard,” she said. “I think the third set was more of indication of how well we can play. We can just take this game and learn from it.”
The Falcons return to the court Friday when they travel to face the Central Michigan Chippewas – a team they swept 3-0 last Thursday at home- at 7 p.m.
