On Thursday, Bowling Green kicked off conference play with a matchup against the Northern Illinois Huskies.
After having defeated the Michigan Wolverines twice the previous weekend, the Falcons came ready to dominate.
Set 1: 32-30 (BGSU)
Bowling Green started the game off strong with two consecutive service aces from junior Lindsey LaPinta, giving the Falcons an early lead.
However, with consistent offensive attacks from both sides of the net, NIU was able to hang with the Falcons the whole first set.
Sophomore Lauren Hovey led the way with seven kills in the set, and led both teams in kills with 19 overall. Freshman Benedetta Marcon also made significant defensive efforts, recording nine digs in the first set.
Both the Falcons and Huskies had their fair share of successes, but NIU just didn’t have enough to put away BGSU, as after strong efforts from both teams, Bowling Green took the first set 32-30.
Set 2: 25-20 (NIU)
Like the previous, this set was very competitive and both teams never gave up. NIU, however had just enough consistency to tie up the match 1-1.
NIU’s offense truly excelled during this set, as Katie Erdmann earned six out of her 14 overall kills for the Huskies during Set two.
Despite the aces from Hovey and Kat Mandly, there were several service errors made by the team, helping NIU with their lead.
Set 3: 25-20 (BGSU)
After a tough loss in the previous set, BGSU did not hold back in Set three. They started things off with a 5-0 lead, forcing NIU to take a timeout.
The Falcon offense really stood out, as Marcon and LaPinta together recorded three aces. In terms of hitting, many Falcon hitters contributed to this set, but Hovey once again led the way with five kills.
By this point, it was clear that BGSU truly had their head in the game, improving their hitting percentage from the previous set by .158.
The energy, determination, and resilience was enough for the Falcons to win the set 25-20.
Set 4: 25-11 (BGSU)
The Falcons started putting the ball away so quickly, it made their efforts appear easy.
Hovey, once again, led the Falcon offense with five kills in the set, followed by her teammates Mia Tyler with two, Mandly with 2, and Jaden Walz with 1.
Senior Alexis Mettille also racked up some points for the Falcons, serving up two consecutive aces and assisting with a pair blocks.
BGSU was dominating the entire set, and really showed how essential teamwork is in the game of volleyball.
The Falcons came up on top in this set 25-11, winning the match 3-1.
“That was our goal to start the MAC with a win at home,” head coach Danijela Tomic said. “A lot of good individual performances that our team had, but as always this was a team win,”
Following her impressive performance, Hovey knows that this is only the beginning.
“It’s a nice way to start, we know that we can’t really take anything for granted,” said Hovey. “Every team wants to win, and we know in the MAC that anything can happen.”
The Falcons take on the Huskies once again in the Stroh Center at 6 p.m. Friday, in hopes of clinching back-to-back series sweeps, while also attempting to give Tomic her 200th career win as head coach at BGSU.
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