It is officially volleyball season, as the Falcons will take on three opponents at the Stroh Center over the weekend as part of the Best Western Invitational.
The Falcons will open tournament play against Chicago State on Friday before facing Illinois on Saturday, with both matches starting at 6 p.m. Bowling Green closes the tournament with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday against Cincinnati.
An official unveiling ceremony for the new Mo and Jon Stansbery Court will be held before the Orange and Brown’s Friday match.
Falcon Media Sports Network will have calls for all three matches on 88.1 WBGU.
Matchup History
Falcon volleyball has only played Chicago State once, defeating the Cougars in 2005 with a sweep.
BGSU is nearly as untested against Illinois, holding a 0-2 record against the Illini.
However, Bowling Green has history against Cincinnati, who lead the all-time series against the Falcons, 13-9.
Scouting Bowling Green
BGSU is coming off a Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament Championship appearance last season, where they fell to Western Michigan in five sets. Out of 18 players on the roster, the Falcons have nine new faces, including three transfers and six freshmen.
The Orange and Brown open the year at home for the first time since 2021, hosting their first invitational since 2017.
Last year, the Falcons finished third in the MAC in both blocks (252.0) and hitting percentage (.256) while leading the conference in service aces (229).
Scouting Chicago State
The Cougars are coming off a 13-9 season, which featured a series sweep against the MAC’s Northern Illinois.
Chicago State will begin the season as the newest team to join the Northeast Conference, announcing the news in late 2023.
As an independent team in 2023, the Cougars accumulated 964 kills, averaged 2.0 blocks per set, 1,107 digs and 121 service aces.
Scouting Illinois
The Illini were towards the middle of the pack in the Big 10 in 2023, finishing with an 11-9 conference record while going 16-14 overall.
Illinois went winless in tournament appearances last season, going just 4-12 in sets over four matches.
Statistically, the Illini managed 1392 kills last season, with 176 service aces and 272.5 total blocks.
Scouting Cincinnati
The Bearcats underwent their first season of Big 12 play in 2023, landing near the bottom of the conference with a 5-13 conference record while finishing the season 12-16.
In 2023, Cincinnati did well in tournament play, winning the Golden Eagle Tournament presented by Holiday Inn of Cookeville, beating opponents 9-2 through three matches.
Cincinnati posted 1,312 total kills last year, on top of 1589 digs, 142 service aces and 240 total blocks.
Falcon 4 Players To Watch
Lauryn Hovey (Bowling Green #14)
Hovey was the only Falcon named to the preseason All-MAC team.
The 2022 Freshman of the Year posted excellent numbers in 2023, tallying 59 aces, which was second in program history for a single season.
Hovey finished last season with 500 kills, 182 digs and 78 blocks, which accounted for 601 total BGSU points.
Lagida Patrycja (Chicago State #18)
The outside hitter from Chotomow, Poland, was only a freshman last season but made a huge impact for the Cougars.
Patrycja was second for Chicago State in points (262.5), kills (193), service aces (25) and points per set (3.91).
Terry is a graduate student outside hitter for the Illini, who served as the offensive motor for the team in 2023, with things looking no different for this season.
Earning First Team Big 10 honors last year, Terry managed to lead her team in kills (539) and service aces (36) while finishing third on the team in blocks (74.0).
Cincinnati is another team that brings back their biggest weapon, Walker, a senior middle blocker who appeared in all 28 matches for the Bearcats in 2023.
Walker could be found everywhere in the stat column for Cincinnati, leading in points (325), kills (260), service aces (23) and attack percentage (.277) while also being second in total blocks (78).
