Bowling Green Volleyball defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles at the George Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti, MI. earlier Thursday evening in straight sets (25-17,27-25,25-23), to improve to 12-11 overall and 6-6 in Mid-American Conference play.
Once again, the trio of Lauryn Hovey, Mia Tyler and Kat Mandly registered double-digit kills individually.
But tonight, the limelight shined down on Mandly.
Mandly matched her season-high in kills with 17, adding to it with four digs and a pair of assists. Hovey and Tyler each added a dozen kills as well in the winning effort, with Hovey coming just one dig shy of a double-double.
Speaking of double-doubles, Falcon fans should probably start nicknaming that for senior setter Jaden Walz, who registered her seventh double-double of the season with a 35 assists, 10 dig performance in directing the offensive attack.
She was nearly joined in the double-double club not only by Hovey, but also by libero Alex Laboy, who finished the night with 13 digs and eight assists as well.
Meanwhile for the Eagles (0-12 MAC), they have yet to crack the win column in conference play, but played a pesky, relentless match against a solid BGSU team.
Graduate senior Callie Minshew led the offensive attack for the green and white with 14 kills and nine digs, just one shy of a double-double. Elle McLoughlin led the way in assists with 26, while Emma McMahon led the Eagles in digs with 17.
For Eastern Michigan, the losing woes continue not just in matches, but also in sets. Despite the Eagles nearly taking sets two and three, the Falcons finished both on long scoring runs that could not be answered.
With that, the Eagles have yet to win a match since Sept. 8 against Chicago State, while also not being able to win a set since Sept. 26 against Central Michigan.
Back to BG, the win now puts them at 6-6 in MAC play, further log-jamming a crowded race for the final spot in the MAC Tournament come late November.
If the tournament started today, Western Michigan (11-0) would be the host and be an automatic semifinalist alongside Buffalo (9-2), while Ball State (9-2), Toledo (8-3), Ohio (7-4) and Northern Illinois (6-5) would be the four quarterfinalists.
However, NIU faces Akron (5-6), as well as WMU this weekend, so in the event of a BGSU win on Friday, things have the potential to really start getting crazy.
BGSU now travels even further north to Mount Pleasant on Friday for a match against the Central Michigan Chippewas. Join Steve Iwanek on 88.1 FM WBGU starting at 5:45 p.m. that night for the Falcon Media Sports Network pregame show, followed by first serve at 6 p.m.
For more stories related to BGSU Athletics, follow Falcon Media Sports Network on X (@bg_fmsn).
