On a night when Bowling Green unveiled its new Mo and Jon Stansbery Court, Bowling Green volleyball had an incredible start to their season.
The Bowling Green Falcons kicked off their 2024 season and head coach Danijela Tomic’s historic 13th season with the Orange and Brown with a 3-0 set victory against the Chicago State Cougars.
Here’s how it went down:
First Set
The Falcons’ first points of the season came from senior outside hitter Mia Tyler, hammering the ball over the net with a vicious spike.
With Bowling Green jumping to an early 4-0 lead, Chicago State fired right back with a 4-0 run of their own.
Heading into the first media timeout, the Cougars gained their first lead of the night, 15-14.
Coming out of the media timeout, Bowling Green’s junior middle blocker Jessica Andrews walked back onto the newly christened Mo and Jon Stansbery Court with a fury, sending the ball over the net like a missile to tie up the set 15-15.
As the teams went back and forth, junior opposite hitter Lauryn Hovey came up clutch with two straight points, capturing the first-set victory for the Orange and Brown.
Second Set (BG up 1-0)
After a short break, the Cougars jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.
Not to be outdone, the Falcons quickly rebounded, scoring six straight points, forcing a Chicago State timeout.
Although BGSU’s offense kept firing on all cylinders, the Cougars showed no quit, battling back into the set and forcing Bowling Green to take a timeout up just 15-12.
However, the Falcons rode their wave of momentum to their second straight set win, 25-17.
Third Set (BG up 2-0)
Chicago State, once more, got the third set started by jumping to a 2-0 lead.
Nevertheless, the Falcons would again catch on fire, with Hovey tying the set at 11 apiece.
The Falcons gained their first lead of the set via a service error from Chicago State’s libero Andrea Calderon. The mistake put BG up 14-13 and forced a Chicago State timeout.
As the prolonged battle between the two teams kept grinding on, Hovey scored three straight points for the Orange and Brown to finally put the set and match away for the Falcons, 25-23.
Hovey finished with a team-high 13 kills, while sophomore setter/right-side Amanda Otten finished with a team-high 23 assists.
Postgame, Bowling Green’s fifth-year middle blocker Alexis Mettille commented on how much Mo and Jon Stansbery mean to this Falcons team and program.
“Mo and Jon are some of our biggest supporters,” she said. “They mean so much to us; they travel with us everywhere.”
Bowling Green will continue Best Western Invitational action on Saturday, taking on Illinois. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Ben Corak and Bryce January will have the call on 88.1 WBGU, starting at 5:45 for pregame and 6 p.m. for the first serve.
