Bowling Green State University volleyball took their first win of the Loyola Invitational in four sets against Stephen F. Austin (SFA) Friday. BG bested SFA 3-1, winning three consecutive sets to finish the match. The Falcons rise to 3-5 on the season, while the Ladyjacks fall to 4-3.
BGSU lost the first set in extra points, 26-24, playing nearly even with the Ladyjacks but unable to pull far enough away. They responded well in the second set, coming back from a 21-16 deficit to win 25-23. The set comeback was led by Falcon pin hitters Lauryn Hovey and Avery Hobson, directly responsible for six of the seven straight points to finish the set.
In a back-and-forth third set, Bowling Green once again edged out the Ladyjacks, this time 26-24. Redshirt freshman Marin Dunaway made her first mark in the Orange and Brown, knocking five kills through the third in her first career match played. She contributed to an offense that fired effectively in the third, leaping above SFA in hitting percentage with eight more kills.
The tight sets continued into the fourth, Bowling Green, for the first time in the match, holding the lead through the majority. Debbie Humphrey’s Ladyjacks tied the match up 18-18 late, but BGSU pulled out the match fittingly, on Hobson’s 24th kill of the night.
With the 3-1 final, Alex DelPiombo earned her first in-person win in her career as head coach of Falcons. The two previous wins for the Falcons occurred in North Dakota, but DelPiombo was not able to make the trip to Fargo or Grand Forks for the matches.
The Falcons finished as the leaders in kills, hitting percentage, assists, digs and blocks, all gradually improving as the game progressed. Hobson had her best match of the season thus far, finishing with 24 kills, a .404 hitting percentage, eight digs, five blocks and two assists. Other notables include Hovey’s 13-kill, 10-dig double-double, Amanda Otten’s fourth 40+ assist match, Sydnie Hernandez’s sixth straight match of 10+ digs and Jessica Andrews’ career high three aces, nearly doubling her career total.
Freshman outside hitter Ava Buddelmeyer, who had been first off the bench in a few straight matches, scored zero kills and three errors on her only seven attacks. The Falcons tested Dunaway in Buddelmeyer’s place, the 6-foot outside hitter earning eight kills on 25 attacks and two blocks during her first-ever contest.
DelPiombo and Bowling Green volleyball play their final match of the weekend against the home Loyola Chicago Ramblers at 3 p.m. in Gentile Arena, the last match before BG’s home opener on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m. at the Stroh Center.
