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Thursday, November 12
Bowling Green, Ohio
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
3
vs
2
Kent State
Falcons Dominate Late To Beat Kent State In Five
November 12, 2009 | Volleyball
Boxscore
Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green volleyball team hit .733 in the fifth set as the Falcons defeated Kent State Thursday night in Mid-American Conference action 25-17, 17-25, 25-12, 26-28, 15-3. The victory was Head Coach Denise Van De Walle's 499th of her career and avenged a three-set loss to the Golden Flashes earlier this year.
Senior Corey Domek had five kills in the deciding fifth set and the Falcons had 12 kills on 15 swings. Kaitlin Jackson and Emily Kauth combined to pick up kills on all six of their attempts in that final frame.
“It was such a great night for our seniors," Van De Walle said. "Shari Luther did what she always does, quietly hit .500 and blocked 4 balls, while Corey Domek and Kaitlin Jackson both had over 20 kills, double digit digs and an ace."
The win gives Bowling Green a point in the Centennial Cup, a year-long athletic competition between the two Universities designed to celebrate both schools 100-year anniversaries. Kent State now holds a slim 3.5-2.5 point lead.
The Falcons set a number of career highs as Jackson finished with 24 kills, shattering her previous best of 17. Alex Zlabis reached 30 digs in a match for the first time in her career, posting 33, and freshman setter Allison Kearney had a career best 60 assists.
"Defensively, Alex had a career night," Van De Walle said. "She played with passion tonight and that's exactly what we needed from her in such a heated match. Allison does so much for the team. Not only does she run the offense, she plays tenacious defense both at the net and in the backrow. She makes things happen around her because she never quits on a ball. Her serving is getting better and better and she continually disrupts the opponent's offense."
In fact, both Jackson and Domek posted double-doubles with at least 20 kills and 10 digs. Jackson added 11 digs to her match-high 24 kills and Domek had 13 digs to go with 23 kills. The one-two punch delivered haymakers all night for the Falcons.
Bowling Green hit .338 for the match and held Kent State to .170. After posting a .484 attack percentage in a second-set win, the Golden Flashes hit just .078 the rest of the way.
Kent State and Bowling Green exchanged strong performances in the first two sets, splitting a pair of 25-17 scores. But the Falcons turned up the defensive effort in the third, had just one attack error, and rolled to a 25-12 win.
The Falcons appeared to have the match well in hand with a 15-10 lead in the fourth but Kent State chipped away at the lead. The Golden Flashes eventually tied the score at 21-21 and Bowling Green held slight leads at 22-21, 23-22, and 24-23. Kent State eventually took a 25-24 lead but the Falcons battled back with a Domek kill to tie the score at 25-25. Domek posted another kill with her team down 26-25 but Kent State got a service error and a kill to win the set and force a fifth and deciding stanza.
Bowling Green took the drama out of the fifth early. The Falcons scored the first five points and jumped out to an 11-1 lead, never looking back.
"Our offense was on fire tonight especially in the fifth set," Van De Walle said. "We were the aggressor and that was fun to see. We hit hard and fast. It was really good volleyball tonight. I'm sure it was a fun match for our fans."
The Falcons won the statistical battled in digs 78-61 and both teams had six aces with Domek leading the way with three. Kent State did have 8.5 team blocks compared to just 4.0 for Bowling Green.
Kent State falls to 13-16 overall and 6-9 in MAC play with the loss and Bowling Green improves to 12-18 overall and 5-10 in league action. Van De Walle goes for her 500th career win Saturday as the Falcons host MAC leader Ohio at 6 p.m. for Senior Day on the final day of the regular season.
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