BGSU volleyball (10-8, 5-2) fell to the Central Michigan Chippewas (14-5, 5-2) in five sets.
The Falcons battled back down 2-1 in sets and made the match end in five sets in almost exact heartbreaking fashion as their previous matchup.
Another slow start put the Falcons behind the eight ball. Unfortunately, the Orange and Brown couldn’t mount a comeback as we’ve seen them do often this year.
Consistency is something the Falcons are still striving for and will need to be, especially down the stretch of the season.
“We got to figure out how to be more consistent, this was a rollercoaster of a match,” head coach Danijela Tomic said postgame. “I told the team you got to find a way to be consistently good. I’m gonna believe this is going to make us better and stronger in the long run.”
How the Falcons respond to back-to-back losses will be a testament to the character of this BG squad.
“Elite athletes have a tolerance for failure; they can recover and come back. We got to find a way to push through, and we need everybody on the team to do that consistently,” said Tomic.
Here’s how the match played out:
First Set:
The match started with back-and-forth points highlighted by an early couple of kills by fifth-year middle blocker Alexis Mettille.
Central Michigan’s early attack helped them gain a lead on the Falcons. Junior outside hitter Natalia Rejment had three early kills in the set to help the Chippewas gain a 15-12 lead heading into the set’s first timeout.
The Falcons came out of the timeout swinging, as they tied the game up quickly at 16-16. Jessica Andrews had two impressive back-to-back kills out of the timeout to give the Falcons some momentum. However, the Falcons killed their momentum with a couple of attack and service errors, which gave Central Michigan a 22-19 lead heading into the second timeout of the set.
Central Michigan quickly ended out of the timeout with a score of 25-21. The set was pretty even offensively; the Falcons just committed more errors, which gave the Chippewas the edge to win the first set of the match.
Second Set:
Once again, the early points were back and forth between the Falcons and Chippewas. The early offense was built from Central Michigans Rejment and Bowling Green’s senior outside hitter Mia Tyler, who each got a couple of kills to start the set.
Central Michigan built up a two-point lead into the midpoint of the set and refused to give it up. Every time Bowling Green came close to taking the lead away from them, the duo of Rejment and senior outside hitter Lauren Schrock came in with a powerful kill to maintain it.
A service ace from Rejment forced the Falcons to call the first timeout of the set at a score of 13-11 for a Central Michigan advantage.
Something in that timeout inspired the Falcons, and they came out firing. They went on a fast 5-0 run highlighted by a couple of impressive kills by Edyta Waclawczyk, which forced Central Michigan to call a timeout of their own at a score of a 16-13 Bowling Green advantage.
Bowling Green maintained that momentum, outsourcing Central Michigan 12-7 since that first timeout. With both Andrews and Tyler getting impressive kills to end the second set with a score of 25-18 for the Falcons.
Third Set:
The Falcon’s momentum from the second set turned ice-cold immediately as Central Michigan started the set with a 4-0 lead, which forced Bowling Green to call an early timeout.
The Chippewas had built their lead up to five early on with a score of 7-2. The Falcons looked to shrink the lead of Central Michigan as junior opposite hitter Lauryn Hovey had back-to-back kills, hoping to spark some momentum for her team.
Every time the Falcons chipped away the lead, the Chippewas were right there to stop the momentum.
Bowling Green had cut the lead of Central Michigan down to two multiple times, but the offense of junior middle blocker Brooklyn Conner and senior opposite hitter Krystina Kasson were on fire this set, which forced Bowling Green to call its final timeout of the set at a score of 17-12 for the Chippewas.
However, the Chippewas got overconfident as they committed multiple attack errors, which allowed Bowling Green to tie up the set at a score of 18-18, which forced Central Michigan to call a timeout of their own.
The late set heroics from the Falcons did not come to fruition as Central Michigan went on a 7-2 run to end the set with a score of 25-20 to give the Chippewas a 2-1 set advantage.
Fourth Set:
With being down a set, the Falcons knew that they had to come out swinging, and that is exactly what they did. They started on a 6-1 run to start the set, highlighted by a kill and a few blocks by Hovey.
Central Michigan was chipping away at the lead and eventually got it all the way down to one. However, the Falcons remained calm and composed as sophomore setter Amanda Otten had back-to-back service aces, which forced Central Michigan to call their final timeout of the set at a score of 14-9.
The Falcons were absolutely on fire this set as they had impressive blocking, spread the ball around, and got kills from multiple players on Bowling Green.
A dominant set by Bowling Green as they took it with a score of 25-15. The Falcons got most of their points that set through an impressive seven blocks.
“That’s the frustration, you have seven blocks and still find ways to score,” said Tomic. “You see them doing amazing elite things, then focus goes down, and it is mental. It is the mental piece we got to learn from this and get better.”
Fifth Set:
Just as it did in their previous match, this game is going down to a fifth and final set.
Bowling Green started down 0-2 to start the set, but Metille gave them a powerful kill, hoping to give the Falcons momentum. The Falcons then took that momentum right away and scored three straight points to take an early lead of 3-2.
Absolute electric back-and-forth matchup in this final set, with both teams not going away as the lead goes back and forth almost every point.
The Chippewas looked to take the lead and the game away from the Falcons as they quickly gained an 11-8 lead, but Metille and Hovey would not go away, getting back-to-back powerful spikes to take the lead down to 11-10.
Just as quickly as the Falcons tied it up, the Chippewas took a two-point lead and forced coach Tomic to call her final timeout with a score of 13-11.
The Chippewas offense was enough, and they took the final set with a score of 15-12 as the Falcons faced heartbreak for the second straight match.
Bowling Green’s next matchup against the Buffalo Bulls is on Thursday, Oct. 17, at Alumni Arena. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Chas McNeil will have the call for the game on WBGU 88.1 FM.
