On Saturday, BGSU volleyball took on the Western Michigan Broncos in the semi-finals of the MAC tournament hosted at Bowling Green’s very own Stroh Center.
The Falcons lost this match after five closely contested sets, but Western Michigan emerged victorious, and they moved on to the MAC tournament finals.
After the match, BGSU head coach Danijela Tomic stated, “We played against an excellent team that was better than us tonight. [Western Michigan] played better in the fifth set.”
Set 1
In the early goings of set number one, coach Tomic was forced to call a timeout as Western Michigan went on a quick 5-0 run and took the lead 6-1.
After two spectacular back-and-forth rallies from both teams, BG wins the point and starts to mount a comeback. The score now reads 9-7, still in favor of the Broncos.
WMU would pull ahead again before the Falcons shortened the gap to two for a second time, making the score 15-13.
Shortly after, Broncos’ head coach Coleen Munson got a challenge call to go correctly her way and advanced the Western Michigan lead to 19-15, which, paired with another WMU point, caused Coach Tomic to call her second timeout with a score of 20-15 Broncos.
Western Michigan reached set point first and followed it with the set win. They go up one set to none with a set final score of 25-18.
Second Set:
The Orange and Brown were the ones off to a great start this time, going up 9-5 over the Broncos. Stellar hitting on both teams, namely by fifth-year middle blocker Alexis Mettille and fifth-year outside hitter Keona Salesman of Western Michigan.
WMU is forced to call a timeout after BG went up 14-7. Junior setter Amanda Otten was locked in for the Falcons in the second set.
Metille gets a strong kill and an even stronger block to get the Falcons to 20 first. They were up 20-11 over the Broncos.
After a misplaced hit by junior middle blocker Jessica Andrews that landed just a bit outside, Coach Tomic decided to call a timeout with Western, closing the gap to 22-16 and then called the second TO as the Broncos got closer with a score of 22-19.
And the Falcons finally end the lengthy Western Michigan run and win the second set on back-to-back blocks with a final score of 25-21.
Third Set
The first stoppage of play in the third set occurred due to a challenge from WMU, who believed Bowling Green had touched the ball on an attack that went outside. The challenge was unsuccessful, and the Falcons went up 5-3 to begin the set.
The Broncos called timeout after freshman defensive specialist Sydnie Hernandez got an ace and put the Falcons up 11-6. This was followed closely by a BG timeout due to a Western comeback that resulted in a 13-12 score.
The two teams continuously go back and forth, with the Falcons remaining in the driver’s seat but the Broncos refusing to go away. The Orange and Brown reach 20 first at 20-18.
Western Michigan then mounted a small comeback and had things tied at 23-23 before the Broncos got the next two points and secured the set three win 25-23, going up 2-1.
Fourth Set
It was an absolute block party to start the fourth set, with BG getting three block kills in a row. Coach Munson called timeout to stop the 5-0 Falcon run from getting out of hand. Falcons led 7-2.
Broncos complete a comeback and tie things up at 11 after some incredible backcourt play by fifth-year libero Andelyn Simkins. The match stayed tied at 16-16 with more back-and-forth play.
Western called their second timeout once Bowling Green reached 22 points. The Falcons now lead the Broncos 22-18.
Yet another block kill by the Falcons results in a set point. Andrews then ripped a ball on a slide attack that found the floor and tied the match at two sets apiece. The final score of the set was 25-20.
Fifth Set
Coach Tomic was forced to call a timeout after a 4-0 opening run for the Broncos due mostly to costly BG errors.
Coming out of the TO, Western Michigan scored three more unanswered points and went up 7-0 before Bowling Green called their final timeout of the game.
The Falcons finally earned their first point of the set and found a little momentum, but it seemed to be too little too late, as the Broncos were up 11-5.
Junior opposite hitter Lauryn Hovey and the rest of the Falcons battled hard at the end of the set, but Western Michigan came out on top 15-8 and won the match 3-2.
The top Falcon players in this match were Mettille, Hovey, grad student libero Lindsey LaPinta, and Andrews.
Mettille had 14 kills, with a very impressive .519 hitting percentage. The middle blocker also had seven total blocks.
Hovey also had 14 kills, which she paired with two aces and 16 digs. LaPinta had a team-high 25 digs as the libero, as well as three aces, also a team-high.
To round things out, Andrews had a team-high 16 kills and ten total blocks.
While the Falcons suffer an early exit in the MAC tournament, Tomic knows it does not hinder the overall success the program had in the regular season.
“One loss does not define this team,” said coach Tomic, “We fought hard all season to earn to host…to lose in five, it’s heartbreaking.”
A special group of players who fought until the very end will be remembered for their character and the care they showed each other.
“I’ve been a part of teams where after some losses like this…it was almost like a relief that the season was over, this is a team that truly loves each other.”
