BGSU volleyball (14-14, 8-8) was able to keep itself in contention for the Mid-American Conference tournament with a reverse sweep win against the Akron Zips (15-12, 8-8).
They will need to keep that hope alive with wins against Buffalo in Buffalo this Friday and Saturday in an all-important two-game series.
The Buffalo Bulls, however, are primarily out of tournament contention with a 6-10 MAC record. They will look to end the season with two decisive wins at home.
So far this season, the Falcons are 3-8 on the road, with their last road win coming all the way back to October 4th against Central Michigan.
The Bulls’ last win was a hard-fought five-set victory over Toledo (10-6) at Savage Arena on Nov. 7th. They lost the next day to Toledo in a sweep.
Over the course of this matchup’s history, the Orange and Brown have gone 43-10 against the Bulls and 18-6 on the road. The Falcons are on a 12-game win streak against Buffalo and have swept 10 of the 12 games during this streak.
Buffalo does not lead any Mid-American Conference statistical category, but they are around the middle of the pack in every category.
Freshman outside hitter Emerson Matthews is the Bulls’ best hitter. She had 25 kills in the five-setter against Toledo and 18 kills in the loss to the Rockets. This season, the freshman has 330 kills on a .179 hitting percentage to go with 23 service aces, 38 total blocks, and 172 digs.
A great defensive player on the Bulls is freshman defensive specialist Sadie Gladhill. She tallied 15 digs in the three-set loss to TU, and 154 digs total on the season, along with 40 assists.
On the Falcon side, junior setter Amanda Otten continues to impress. She was one dig short of a triple-double against Akron in the BG reverse sweep, with 11 kills, 45 assists, and nine digs. Otten also had two service aces in the win.
Freshman outside hitter Anastasija Bozic is also poised to have a big series against the Bulls. She had her best match to date in the win against Akron, with 11 kills on 29 total attacks and eight digs. Bozic is only going to improve from here.
Tune into the second match on WBGU 88.1 FM on Saturday, Nov. 15, for live coverage with Andrew Smith of the Falcon Media Sports Network, starting at 3:45 p.m. and check out the Friday, Nov. 14, recording on BG Falcon Media YouTube.
