Falcons Split At Pittsburgh

Friday, September 17

Pittsburgh, Pa.

1:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

St. Francis (Pa.)

Paige Penrod, Cassie Berning, Kari Galen

September 17, 2010 | Volleyball

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Boxscore vs. St. Francis
Boxscore vs. Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team came up just a few points short of a perfect opening day at the Blue and Gold Invitational Friday, defeating St. Francis (Pa.) in four sets before losing to host Pittsburgh in a five-set thriller.

Bowling Green, now 3-9 on the year, will be back in action Saturday against Eastern Illinois at 11 a.m. and against Robert Morris at 5 p.m.

Bowling Green defeats St. Francis (Pa.) 25-12, 25-19, 27-29, 27-25

Bowling Green played arguably its best set of the year in the opening frame and then gutted out a four-set victory over St. Francis. The Falcons, who have struggled with attack errors during the early part of the year, hit .333 without a missed swing during the first set and looked unstoppable. While they weren't flawless in the second, Bowling Green matched that play by hitting .294 in the second and rolling to another win.

But the Falcons did not reach .200 in either of the final two sets and each were decided by the narrowest of margins. Bowling Green jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third but St. Francis quickly tied it up at 10-10 and then took a late 19-17 lead. A Paige Penrod kill, followed by two Red Flash attack errors and a Sam Fish ace but the Falcons in charge 21-19 and BG had two match point chances with a 24-22 lead. But St. Francis hung tough and, with the score tied at 27-27, got back-to-back service aces to send the match to a fourth set.

Bowling Green was behind as many as four points in the fourth and trailed 22-18 before a furious rally. Noelle Spitler and Penrod had kills and blocks to get it within two at 24-22. Lauren Mizgalski followed with a kill and Fish had another ace to tie the score at 24-24. Kari Galen and Penrod combined on a block to make it 25-24 but St. Francis got a block of its own to tie the score. Finally, Penrod and Fish had back-to-back kills to give Bowling Green the win.

“We struggled a little more than I thought we would in this match,” Head Coach Denise Van De Walle said. “We came out strong in the first set and played very well. But by the third set, we were making more unforced errors than earlier.”

Penrod finished with a team-high 13 kills and added a career-high four aces to go with nine digs. Spitler had 10 kills and a career-high seven blocks, while Ashley Dunn added a career-best 26 digs. The Falcons improved to 3-0 on the year when they hit at least .200 by swinging .234 for the match. BG outdug, outkilled, and outblocked St. Francis, beating the Red Flash in almost every facet of the game. The Falcons led in digs 58-49, in kills 50-41, and in blocks 14.0-7.0. The only area St. Francis had an advantage came in the service game, where the Red Flash had 12 aces compared to nine for Bowling Green.

Pittsburgh defeats Bowling Green 22-25, 25-16, 21-25, 25-19, 15-12

Bowling Green led almost the whole way but Pittsburgh closed out the Falcons late to win a tight five-set match. BGSU took an early lead with a first set win, took a 2-1 lead with a third set victory, and then scored the first four points of the fifth set and led late in the frame.

Noelle Spitler set the tone with a kill on the first point of the fifth set and the Falcons jumped on top 4-0 in the deciding stanza. Another Spitler kill gave Bowling Green a 9-5 lead before a Pittsburgh timeout turned the set around. The Panthers scored six of the next eight points to tie the score before Bowling Green's Paige Penrod hit the last of her career high 20 kills to give the Falcons a 12-11 lead. But that would be the team's final point as Pittsburgh scored the next four to win the set.

Bowling Green played well in the two sets it won, hitting .273 and .312 in the first and third. But the Falcons hit only .065 in the second, .062 in the fourth, and .083 in the fifth.

Imani Harper was almost unstoppable for Pittsburgh, finishing with 16 kills without an attack error on only 24 attempts. Amy Town added a match-high 22.

For Bowling Green, Penrod ended with the first 20-kill match of the year for the Falcons and she hit .326. Danielle Tonyan added 11 kills and Sam Fish handed out 33 assists to go with eight digs.