Bowling Green State University
Kent State
Falcons Beat Kent State to Stay Undefeated In Anderson Arena
November 03, 2007 | Volleyball
Nov. 3, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Falcons welcomed Kent State Saturday afternoon putting their perfect 11-0 record to the test. In a very close battle between to evenly matched teams the Falcons were victorious beating the Golden Flashes, 3-2 (30-23, 30-25, 31-33, 26-30, 15-13) bringing their record in Anderson Arena to 12-0 with only #16 Ohio standing in the way of the Falcons perfect season at home.
The Falcons came out fired up like they have all season in Anderson Arena and took the first point of the match with a kill from Corey Domek. The rest of game one was the battle of the three point rallies with both teams scoring in threes. Kent State started by putting together three three-point runs together one after the other and took a 9-4 lead over the Falcons. The Falcons answered back with the first of their own three-point runs. Kent State came right back with another three-point rally but the Falcons countered once again with their own three point run to keep game one close 10-12 in favor of Kent State. The Falcons tied the game up 14-14 off of a service ace from Sam Fish in one of the Falcons three-point runs. Kent State once again fired back with a three-point rally to take a 17-15 lead. The Falcons were able to come within one, 18-19 off of a kill from Kendra Halm, which led to a five-point run and the Falcons taking the lead that they wouldn't give up the rest of game one. Included in the Falcon five-point run was another milestone for junior Chelsey Meek. With the score 19-19, Meek picked up her 538th dig of the season to break the BGSU record for most digs in a season which led to a kill for Meghan Mohr. (Meek broke the record that she set last season of 537 digs). The Falcons continued to fight hard with Halm terminating a kill against a triple block and then Mohr ending game one for the Falcons with a kill, 30-23. The Falcons out hit Kent State in game one hitting a .229 with 18 kills compared to the Golden Flashes .022 with 11 kills.
Once again in game two the Falcons jumped out aggressive taking the first point off the game from another Halm kill. The beginning of game two was close but once the Falcons took the lead they didn't relinquish it the rest of game two. The Falcons broke away from the Golden Flashes with the score tied up 8-8. A Domek kill started a Falcon five-point run, which was followed up by a three point Falcon run. A tremendous hustle play by the Falcons started by a diving dig from Elizabeth Simon, a great hustle from Mohr into the bleachers to bring the ball back in play, and finally a Stephanie Swiger kill to terminate play giving the Falcons a 16-9 lead over the Golden Flashes. The Falcons didn't let up in game not allowing the Golden Flashes to score more than two points in a row. The Falcons finished off game two with a kill from Swiger winning, 30-25. Both teams hit their best in game two with the Falcons hitting a .429 with 20 kills and the Golden Flashes hitting a .372 with 19 kills. The difference in game two was the Falcons' unstoppable defense, which picked up 18 digs compared to the Golden Flashes eight digs.
Game three was the tightest game of the match with neither team taking more than a two-point lead and the score being tied 21 times throughout the game. Kent State took the first two-point lead after an early three-point run giving them a 4-2 over the Falcons. The game continued to be a battle point for point until the Falcons put together three points with Simon back at the service line giving the Falcons the second two point lead of the game, 13-11 over Kent State. The Golden Flashes answered right back with their own three point lead to take a 14-13 lead. With the Falcons down by two and the Golden Flashes at game point 27-29 the Falcons sided out with a double block from Halm and Domek. The score continued to go back and forth until the Golden Flashes were able to put together two points in a row to win game three, 33-31.
The beginning of game four was all BG with the Falcons putting together four straight runs. The first was a four point run with Sam Fish back at the service line, which included to two kills from Halm. Next were three Falcon three-point runs with Simon, Meek, and finally Mohr back at the service line. By the end of the Falcon runs BG was up 13-5 over Kent State, the biggest lead of the night. The Golden Flashes fought back stringing together a three-point run followed by an eight-point run to give them a 23-21 lead over the Falcons. The Golden Flashes extended their lead to five, 27-22 with another three-point run. Game four slipped away from the Falcons, 26-30, forcing game five.
Kent State came out in game five and took the first three points to take a 3-0 lead over the Falcons. The Falcons came back and tied everything up at 6-6 after a kill from Madeline Means, which lead to a four-point run giving the Falcons a 8-6. The Falcons sided out right away and went on a three point run off of two huge back-to-back kills from Swiger taking an 11-7 lead. The Golden Flashes answered back with a three point run to come within one of the Falcons, 12-11. With the Falcons at game point and up by two 14-12 the Golden Flashes fought off one Falcon game point but a Mohr kill ended game five with a win for the Falcons 15-13. Game five was another close match-up between the two teams but a perfect performance by Swiger with four kills and no errors hitting a 1.000 helped the Falcons end up on top hitting a .276 compared to the Golden Flashes .207.
"Tonight was an intense match between two very good teams," said Head Coach Denise Van De Walle. "I thought we played on cruise control in game three and it hurt us. But the greatest thing about tonight is that we never quit. When we lost the third and fourth set we could have panicked. However, we gutted it out. Swiger was on fire in the fifth set and that's exactly what we needed. We played big at the end. Meghan Mohr's kill to end the match was huge. It's the shot we needed."
The Falcons' balanced attack on offense had five players in double-digits for kills. Leading the way and tying a career high was Halm with 22 kills hitting a .356. Also in double-digits on offense were Domek with 19 kills, Swiger with 16 kills hitting a .364, Mohr with 15 kills hitting a .306, and Means with 12 kills.
The Falcons also had everyone in on the defensive stop with four players in double-digits in digs. Meek and Means each picked up 26 digs. Also in on the defensive stop were Simon with 19 digs and Fish with 15 digs. Included in Meek's 26 dig was her record breaking 538th dig of the season to break the record she set last year of 537 digs in season. Meek currently has 560 digs this season and 1,555 career digs only 41 digs away from the all-time BGSU career record. Simon recorded 19 digs and Fish recorded 15 digs.
The Falcons had three players record double-doubles in the match as well. Fish recorded her second double-double in a row and sixth of the season with 62 assists and 15 digs. Mohr picked up her seventh double-double of the season with 15 kills and 11 assists. Means also picked up her seventh double-double of the season with 26 digs and 12 kills.
The Falcons now a perfect 12-0 in Anderson Arena are set to take on #16 Ohio tomorrow afternoon (Nov. 4) at 4:00 p.m., in the last home match of the season as they honor the seniors. The Falcons look to become only the second team in BGSU history to be undefeated at home and send the seniors out in style by breaking the BG volleyball attendance record of 1,305 set last year against Ohio (10/26/06).
