Bowling Green State University
OHIO
Falcons Cage Bobcats in Five Set Victory
October 03, 2008 | Volleyball
Oct. 3, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University Head Coach Denise Van De Walle and the Falcon netters opened the BGSU Homecoming weekend and the month of October with a 3-2 (25-21, 16-25, 25-22, 13-25, 15-13), victory over Mid-American Conference East Division rival, the Ohio Bobcats this evening (Oct. 3). The two-plus hour battle marked the Falcons first win over the Bobcats in the past 12 match-ups between the East Division opponents. The Falcons picked up their first win in MAC play, now 11-6 overall and 1-2 in the MAC while also giving the Bobcats their first conference loss now 9-5 overall and 2-1 in the MAC.
The Falcons got started early as Corey Domek terminated a kill to give BG the first point. The Bobcats then went on a four-point run to take a 6-4 lead over the Falcons. The first set remained extremely close with neither team going ahead more than three points until the Falcons capitalized on a Bobcat serving error by Meryl Bender. The Ohio service error led to six straight unanswered points for the Orange and Brown taking a 16-13 lead over the Bobcats, the Falcons maintained their lead the rest of the first set. The Falcons put together another late three-point run to maintain their lead. BG won the first set, 25-21 off of a kill from senior libero Chelsey Meek.
The second set was full of runs by both teams. The Falcons started off once again with a kill from Domek to secure the first point of the set. BG took an early 9-4 lead over the Bobcats after five straight points. Ohio fired back with two three-point runs to tie the set up 11-11. Ohio continued to fire away at the Falcons scoring points in a row the rest of the second set. The Falcons however weren't able to score points in a row and after two late runs by the Bobcats, BG dropped the second set 16-25.
With the match tied up 1-1 heading into the locker rooms the Falcons once again came out ready to play. The Falcons put together an early three-point run to take a 4-2 lead over the Bobcats. The set remained close until the Orange and Brown posted two more three-point runs and began to pull away extending their lead to six, 14-8. Ohio didn't give up chipping away at the Falcons' lead and tied the set up 19-19 after a three-point run, but a kill from Kendra Halm stopped the Bobcats and once again gave BG the lead, 20-19. With the Falcons down by one, 21-22 a kill from Meghan Mohr got the Falcons a side out and tied the set up 22-22. BG then went one to score four unanswered points winning the third set, 25-22. The Falcon offense was on fire in the third set recording 14 kills, posting a .357 hitting percentage compared to the Bobcats 11 kills and .125 hitting percentage.
Although the Falcons were up two sets to one, Ohio never gave up and came out even tougher in the fourth set. The Bobcats took an early 5-1 lead after a five-point run. The Bobcats came right back posting back-to-back runs taking the biggest lead of the night, 16-5. The Falcons continued to fight back but didn't have enough falling to the Bobcats, 13-25 in the fourth set.
With the match once again tied up 2-2, everything was up to the fifth set. The set started off going point for point, kill for kill, until a kill by Louise Facca led to the first points in a row by either team giving the Falcons an edge over the Bobcats. The Falcons came right back and scored two more points in a row taking a 7-5 lead. The Falcons extended their lead as a kill from Mohr led to three straight BG points, 11-7. The Bobcats continued to fight back but an attack error by Ohio's Ellen Herman gave the Falcons match point. The Bobcats were able to claw their way back fighting off three BG match points, but Halm terminated a kill to give the Falcons the set and match, 15-13. The Falcons once again dominated at the net holding the Bobcats to a .040 hitting percentage, their lowest of the night. The win gave the Falcons their first victory over the Bobcats in the last 12 meetings.
"I am so glad to finally get the monkey off our back," said Van De Walle. "12 consecutive times is a lot to be beaten by the same team."
"I thought we fought hard tonight," said Van De Walle. "At times I thought we played some of our best volleyball of the season. The first set was BG being aggressive, serving tough and playing great defense. Then the second set was all Ohio. They really picked apart our serve receive and we had no offensive production. The locker room talk at the intermission was a reminder that we needed to follow the game plan. The third set we settled in and passed better and Meghan came alive and hit .500. Offensively that was our best set of the night. The fourth set I thought OU was on fire. We couldn't get anything going and they tore us up at the net. They out hit us and out blocked us. But then it comes down to the 5th set. We got off to a good start with an 8-6 lead at the switch. When we were up 14-9, I thought we relaxed too much and you can't do that against a great team like Ohio. They're used to winning and they never quit. It showed in how long it took us to get the last kill against their defense."
The Falcons got multiple players involved on offense with Mohr leading the attack with 15 kills. Domek also posted double-digits terminating 10 kills. Halm added nine kills despite the Bobcats efforts to stop her. Sam Fish ran the Falcon offense recording her second double-double of the season dishing out 35 assists and leading the Falcon defense with 14 digs. Meek recorded her 17th consecutive match of the season and 74th consecutive career match of double-digit digs with 12 digs against the Bobcats.
"Tonight was really special! Having Coach Brandon on the bench was great. The excitement in the gym when the football team arrived was awesome. The football team really got us going with their cheers and doing the wave. A big thank you to Coach Brandon and his guys for coming. It really made a difference!"
The Falcons will continue their MAC home opening weekend against East Division foe Kent State tomorrow evening (Oct. 4) at 7:00 p.m.
