Ball State Overwhelms Falcons

Saturday, October 22

Muncie, Ind.

7:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Ball State

October 22, 2011 | Volleyball

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

Boxscore

Muncie, Ind. – Mid-American Conference leader Ball State was too strong for the Bowling Green State University volleyball team Saturday night, defeating the Falcons 25-14, 25-23, 25-20.

Ball State hit .273 and had five aces, posting a 56-50 edge in digs. The Falcons did have three more blocks than the Cardinals, getting five from Kari Galen. But the Falcons only hit .142 as Ball State improved to 20-3 on the year and 9-1 in MAC play.

The Falcons got off to slow starts in both the first and third sets, falling behind 5-0 and 7-0 in those two frames. In the first, Bowling Green was never able to mount a comeback but the team did cut an eight-point deficit down to three in the third.

In that third set, Ball State led 13-5 but the Falcons whittled away at the deficit and got within three at 23-20 on a Lauren Mizgalski kill. But the Cardinals put the match away with a Kara Bates kill and a BGSU attack error.

The second set was the most competitive of the match as Bowling Green jumped out to an early lead and held on to a 16-11 edge midway through the stanza. Ball State, though, used an 8-3 run to tie the score and the Cardinals finally took a 24-22 lead on four consecutive points on a pair of Bates' kills. After a Galen kill, an attack error gave Ball State the set.

Danielle Tonyan finished with a team high 12 kills and Emily Kauth added nine with a .417 attack percentage. Ashley Dunn had a strong match from the libero position, posting 18 digs.

Bowling Green falls to 17-7 on the year and 4-6 in MAC play, but remains in sole possession of second place in the East Division. The Falcons will return home to host Kent State Friday night at 7 p.m. and Ohio Saturday at 3 p.m. The Ohio match will serve as Denise Van De Walle Recognition Day, honoring the 29^th year head coach of the Falcons in her final season at the helm of the program.