BGSU volleyball suffered their first losses at home this season to the number one team in the Mid-American Conference, Ball State, who remain undefeated in MAC play at 9-0 and travel back home with two wins in a row.
The Cardinals came into the Stroh and bested the Falcons in a five-set match on Thursday, Oct. 16, followed by a sweep of BG on Friday, Oct. 17. Ball State outplayed the Falcons on Friday, while the Orange and Brown seemed to be in control for most of the first match.
Although the Falcons were still without junior setter Amanda Otten, senior right side Lauryn Hovey returned to the lineup for the series, but became the second setter for BG in tandem with redshirt junior defensive specialist Isabelle Laube.
In the Thursday matchup, redshirt sophomore outside hitter Edyta Wacławczyk had a career high of 20 kills. Still, despite her efforts, the Falcons fell short due to poorly timed mistakes while attacking and from the service line.
On Friday, every hitting lane that Waclawczyk had had the previous day was closed by the Cardinals’ back row. Sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter and sophomore defensive specialist Elizabeth Tabeling played incredible volleyball, picking up practically everything the Falcons threw at them.
After winning two in a row in their last series against NIU, it seemed like the Falcons would continue rolling, but they ran into a wall, and that wall was Ball State. The offense led by sophomore outside hitter Carson Tyler had BG on their heels.
The Cardinals played well, absolutely, but the Falcons also played poorly, making uncharacteristic mistakes throughout both matches. Inconsistent serving, attacking errors, and miscommunications, to name a few.
Junior outside hitter Avery Hobson seriously struggled this week. She had 18 kills on Thursday, but also had many serve receive errors, and had four serve receive errors; her numbers in hitting were not where they usually are, and she looked lost in the back row.
Hovey had a great game, hitting, especially on Friday, but when she went to the setting, the Bowling Green offense went away. They could not put runs together, especially not in the second match, and they got stuck in rotations that were very reminiscent of rotations they got stuck in last season.
Overall, there were not a lot of positives for the Orange and Brown, though there were many for the Cardinals. Tyler is looking like the MAC Player of the Year, and the team around her has so much talent.
As BG head coach Alex DelPiombo has preached all season long, you either win or you learn, and the Falcons have definitely learned from this series.
The squad learned about what kind of team BSU is, how to respond to great serving, where they can make mistakes, and how to defend against such a fast-paced attack that Ball State has.
What they have to learn now is how to respond and how to look forward. The road ahead is not any easier, with a road series against Western Michigan next up and a rematch against Toledo on the horizon.
A better challenge after an awful loss could not be handpicked better for the Falcons. The Broncos are the reigning MAC tournament champions and have a 6-3 conference record this season, which is tied with the Falcons for third in the Mid-American Conference.
The trip to Kalamazoo starts on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and wraps up on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Friday’s game will be on Falcon Radio starting at 5:45 p.m., and Saturday’s game will be on WBGU 88.1 FM starting at 3:45. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Andrew Smith will have the call for both matches.
