BGSU volleyball (12-9, 6-3) fell to Ball State (13-8, 9-0) for the second consecutive night, this time, in three sets.
The Falcons were delighted to have senior right-side hitter Lauren Hovey back for the second consecutive match, but surely missed junior setter Amanda Otten’s presence on the defensive side of the ball.
“There are a lot of aspects of losing your setter,” said head coach Alex DelPiombo. “I thought that this week, the team handled the mentality of it really well. Ball State is just really good, and we didn’t really have enough time to settle into it, where we sometimes looked a little bit unorganized in some of those quick rallies, and quick serves when they were on a point score run.”
Otten was a defensive juggernaut all season long for BG until she sustained a knee injury. Despite Hovey being back in action, the Falcons were unable to combat the Cardinals’ high-powered offense.
The Orange and Brown lost the first set 25-20 largely because of their inability to combat Ball State’s overall hitting percentage, .382, compared to BGSU’s .244 hitting percentage.
Without Otten, Bowling Green struggled to fight back against Ball State’s serves, which resulted in bad defensive hits. The Falcons finished the night with a total of 43 digs, versus the Cardinals’ 51 total digs. Before Otten’s injury, she possessed 146 total digs on her own.
After the game, Hovey was asked specifically about how challenging it has been not having Otten in the lineup and how the team has tried to adjust while not having her on the floor.
“As a team, we’re adapting, kind of going with the flow,” said Hovey. “All of us are trying to pick up our bucket and do our own job, and be the best we can for the team.”
Additionally, as a team, BGSU struggled to overcome its own attack errors and service errors throughout the night. Bowling Green had 114 total attacks, and 16 of them were attack errors. Not to mention, the Orange and Brown committed 10 total service errors on the night that contributed to the loss.
Despite BG having an all-around roster, it is extremely tough to face a worthy competitor like Ball State and expect to have success, especially when one of your star players is sidelined with an injury.
Now, Bowling Green will focus their sights on their next opponent, Western Michigan, as that game will be played next Friday in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at 6:00 p.m.
Falcon Media Sports Network will have full coverage of the match on bgfalconmedia.com.
