The Falcon Volleyball team got its second win of the season and its seventh consecutive game against the Youngstown State University Penguins.
BG started out strong winning the first two sets of the match 25-13 and 16-25.
“Erica [Fullenkamp] did a nice job distributing the ball to our middles,” said coach Danijela Tomic. “That is something that we’ve been talking to our setters, especially for the first two sets.”
Tomic credited a large portion of the first set’s success on Kaitlynn Skinner and Kelsey Bates’ high hitting percentages. “That is what we need for them in every match, to really be involved so our offense is harder to defend when our middles and outside hitters are part of our offense,” she said.
Skinner led the team with a .455 attack percentage.
Bates said the YSU defense struggled against the offensive pressure the Falcons applied in the first two sets. “We were finding the seams and they couldn’t cover it — the defense was struggling a little bit,” she said.
Outside-hitter Lindsey Butterfield said being at home helped the team win.
“The first two sets we were just glad to be home,” Butterfeild said. “We love playing at home and playing for our fans.”
After the 10-minute break period the Falcons looked to be headed for an easy third set, but the Penguins had different ideas.
BG would not have the lead in the third set until they reached their 22nd point.
“I tell our team every time in the 10-minute intermission that when a team is down two sets, they are going to come out fighting for their lives and we have to play even better in that set, and we didn’t,” said Tomic. “So we were fortunate to win especially running out of subs and our defense playing out of our system.”
BG used a lot of players in the third set. Danielle Tonyan and Laura Avila saw their first action of the night and freshman Madaline Garda saw playing time as well.
“We’ve struggled against some tough teams,” Butterfeild said. “And we are still trying to figure out kinks and find who plays well with who, but that’s why we did such a good job recruiting and why our bench is so deep. If we aren’t doing our job or if there is a match-up that coaches see, we are confident in who the coaches put out there. We like to see that.”
Tomic said the roster is full of players who are able to play at anytime.
“A lot of players are playing better [than the regular starters], we are putting the team that plays best together and into the starting line-up,” she said.
Bates said the fans played a factor in the team win.
“You have more confidence in yourself and your teammates and it is just more fun,” she said.
