Bowling Green State University
AKRON
Volleyball Rallies To Top Akron In Four
November 03, 2001 | Volleyball
Nov. 3, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team got off to a very slow start Saturday night (Nov. 3).
But, the Falcons rallied in a big way.
Junior Kristin Gamby had a match-high 21 kills for the second consecutive night to help BGSU to a four-game win over the University of Akron (16-30, 30-20, 30-19, 32-30). The matchup of Mid-American Conference East Division leaders was held at Anderson Arena.
With the victory, the Falcons (16-6 overall, 9-5 MAC) close to within a half-game of the division-leading Zips (16-6, 10-5). The Falcons have won four consecutive matches, and are now 8-1 at home this season.
In addition to Gamby, three other Falcons hit double digits in kills. Senior Caty Rommeck had 16 kills, while redshirt sophomore Laura Twyman had a career-high 13 kills and hit .409 off the bench. Senior Shyann Robinson had 10 kills.
BGSU senior setter Natalie Becker had 55 assists on the night, and hit .462 (7-1-13) with seven kills and eight digs.
Four Falcons had double-digit dig totals, led by sophomore Nadia Bedricky's 15. Classmate Susie Norris (14), Rommeck (13) and Robinson (12) rounded out that group.
The Zips were led by Katie Kuzior's 14 kills off the bench. Ashleigh Nugent had 12 kills and 11 digs, while Ashlie Case had a team-high 14 digs to pace four players in double digits.
The visitors came out smoking, hitting .468 as a team in game one, to the Falcons' 103. In that game, UA had just one attack error, while the Falcons had nine. That game actually was tied at 12-12, before the Zips went on an 18-4 run to earn the win.
BGSU righted the ship in the second game, hitting .447 (20-3-38). With the Falcons leading by a 12-11 count, Gamby pounded out a kill to bring up senior Kate Yeo's turn in the serving rotation. Yeo proceeded to serve six-straight points, giving the Brown and Orange a 19-11 lead. A few moments later, back-to-back kills by Gamby evened the match at a game apiece.
It was more of the same in game three, as the contest was close in the early going before the home team took over. The game was tied, 8-8, before another Gamby smackdown ignited a 6-0 run. Rommeck had two kills during that stretch.
Akron closed to within 15-11 before the Falcons scored the next four points. UA never got closer than seven points thereafter. BGSU led, 29-15, before four consecutive Zip points made the final score a little closer. The Falcons hit .308 to UA's .024 in that third game.
In the fourth game, Akron led by as many as seven points (20-13), but the Falcons slowly crept back. With the score 23-18, Rommeck hammered a kill, and a UA attack error was followed by a Twyman kill to bring BG within two points.
After a kill by UA's Case, back-to-back kills by Twyman and Robinson made the score 24-23, Zips. The squads traded service errors, and BG tied the match at 25-25 on an attack error by the visitors. But, Akron retook the lead on a pair of BG attack errors.
But, another Zip attack miscue brought BG within a point, and a Gamby kill tied the contest at 27-27. Kuzior hammered a kill to give the visitors a one-point lead, but then had an error to tie matters once again. Gamby's kill gave BGSU its first lead of the game since early (2-1), but the Zips scored the next two points to retake the lead, 30-29. UA would not score again.
A Gamby kill tied the score for the final time, and a Becker kill off a Bedricky dig gave BGSU the lead for good. Block assists by Rommeck and senior Amber Vorst ended the match.
"Akron has a good team," said Falcon coach Denise Van De Walle. "They have a very good setter (Lyndsay Sopko), and they run the 'flare' very well.
"But, the crowd was really into the game, and that helped us out tremendously.
"I was impressed with our composure when the match got tight. We really picked up our defense in the late going, too, our defense won game four for us.
"Amber Vorst gave us a spark off the bench. She helped change the momentum of the game, and did the job as a substitute.
"Gamby had her second consecutive 21-kill night, and Laura Twyman was error-free until late in the third game. All in all, it was a big win for us, and now we control her own destiny."
The Falcons hit the road for a pair of matches next weekend, playing at Marshall Friday (Nov. 9) and Ohio Saturday (Nov. 10). The Brown and Orange will return home for a non-conference match vs. Cleveland State Nov. 13, and BGSU will conclude the regular season with a road match at Kent State (Nov. 16) and the home final‚ vs. Toledo (Nov. 17). All remaining regular-season matches, home and away, are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
