Last night for Bowling Green Volleyball was a weirdly frustrating performance.
During their losing streak, while some statistical battles were close, the majority of their losses were also losses in crucial stat battles.
But last night, the Falcons were the better team on paper.
And yet, they still lost.
The Falcons (12-12 OVR, 6-7 MAC) fell to the Central Michigan Chippewas (11-13 OVR, 5-7 MAC) in five sets last night at McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant.
CMU came out guns blazing, taking care of BG in the first set swiftly at 25-16 via a 39.3% hitting percentage compared to BG’s meager 14.7%.
However in sets two and three, the Falcons bounced back, grinding out a 25-22 second set win, while playing their arguably most efficient set of the year in the third.
Why do I say that? 15 kills, 31 total attacks, a big goose egg in the errors column, and a 25-9 set win.
All seemed to be trending in the right direction for the orange and brown, but then the fourth began.
Mixed in with a pair of questionable calls within from the officials, and a 7-0 start to the set by the maroon and gold, CMU powered ahead to a 25-21 fourth set win to push the match to a fifth.
The fifth? the wrong time to collapse for BG, as initial touches, four attack errors, and a sub 15% hitting percentage doomed BG, as they fell 15-11 to lose the match.
What makes this loss frustrating? Losing despite recording two career-highs and winning in practically every statistical category.
Let’s start with the career-highs, which were notched by sophomore standout Lauryn Hovey and senior setter Jaden Walz.
For Hovey, she reached her career-high in kills and overall points, with Hovey taking the reigns and ending the night with 32 kills and 35 total points, while adding nine digs and three aces. Hovey’s previous career-high came last season against Ball State, which was 22.
Already this season, Hovey has surpassed her marks from last season, as the sophomore has 417.0 points, 340 kills and 125 digs this season, all new career-highs.
Meanwhile for Walz, her 53 assists surpassed a previous career-high of 46, which came back in 2021 against Toledo. She also added 13 digs for her team-high eighth double-double this season.
The 53 assists are also the highest by a Falcon since 2021, when former Falcon Hanna Laube recorded 67 assists against Ball State.
Mia Tyler did her best to add to the offensive showcase, adding 14 kills and only three errors on 29 total attacks.
Alex Laboy paced the Falcon back row in digs with 19.
Now to the second frustration point- the statistical battles, which saw BG come out as the better team in the following categories: blocks, kills, hitting percentage, assists, aces, digs.
No wonder the coaching staff was frustrated.
“We just have to remind ourselves that we need to continue to be consistent,” associate head coach Alison Cooke said postgame. “We were just off in areas when we needed to be at our best, so we need to learn how to get to that point.”
BG ended the night +14 in kills, +1 in blocks, +1 in aces, +5.2% in hitting percentage, +8 in digs, and +12 in digs, which would make the average person think that the Falcons would win.
But at the end of the day, CMU came through and made the plays they needed to at the right moments, including in the fifth, which saw the Chippewas end the set on a 6-2 run.
Lauren Schrock led the way offensively with 18 kills, while Claire Ammeraal led the way in assists with 39.
For BG, the loss makes the MAC Tournament race even more interesting, as with the loss and the Akron Zips picking up a win over Northern Illinois last night, we have a race that sees Akron and NIU at 6-6, while BG is at 6-7 and CMU at 5-7. If the tournament started today, Akron would be the final quarterfinalist.
BG has roughly a week to rest until their next series, which will see the orange and brown make the trip east to the home of?
None other than the Akron Zips, which has the potential to be a season-defining series for both teams.
For more stories related to BGSU Athletics, follow Falcon Media Sports Network on X (@bg_fmsn).
