Falcons Rally For Eighth Straight Victory

Friday, October 12

Ypsilanti, Mich.

7:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Eastern Michigan

October 12, 2012 | Volleyball

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

Boxscore

Ypsilanti, Mich. – Lindsey Butterfield had five of her career-high 21 kills in the fifth set and the Bowling Green volleyball team rallied from two sets down to remain undefeated in Mid-American Conference play with a 26-28, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20, 15-11 win over Eastern Michigan Friday evening on the road. The Falcons hold onto sole possession of first place in the MAC at 7-0, while the Eagles drop to 3-4 in conference play.

Bowling Green won its eighth consecutive match, pulling out each of the past three contests in five sets. However, this was the first time the Falcons had won a match after losing the first two sets since 2009, when the team did the same against Northern Illinois.

The Falcons battled back with another strong defensive effort, posting more than 100 digs for the second consecutive match. BGSU held a 101-82 edge in digs and that came after getting outdug in the opening frame by three. Ashley Dunn led the way with 28 digs but five different players had at least 10. It was Dunn's third consecutive match with at least 25 digs, becoming the first Falcon in more than 14 years to do that.

The Bowling Green offense was also a huge catalyst to the comeback. After hitting just .133 in the first set and .200 in the second, the Falcons hit at least .300 in each of the final three sets, including a sizzling .429 in the fifth. Butterfield and Paige Penrod each had 21 kills and Danielle Tonyan added 16. Leah Shaw and Kari Galen added five more each.

“This was one of the greatest comebacks that I have experienced as a coach,” BGSU Head Coach Danijela Tomic said. “Our team showed so much character and heart and found a way to win our third consecutive five-set match.”

BGSU struggled early and fell behind 23-17 in the first set. Despite a 7-0 run that gave the Falcons a 24-23 lead, Eastern Michigan rebounded and eventually put the opening set away 28-26. The Eagles used that momentum, combined with a 12-2 run early in the second, to take a 25-22 win in the second.

“Eastern Michigan had a great game plan against us in the first two sets,” Tomic said. “It took us a while to make all of the necessary adjustments. Once we started playing our style of volleyball, aggressive and efficient, we were able to turn the match around.”

The Falcons appeared to be reeling and were heading towards their first conference loss of the year, but the team used the break after the second set to recover. BGSU never trailed by more than one point the rest of the match and dominated statistically throughout.

Bowling Green had 17 kills in the third set and just two attack errors as the Falcons were in control throughout, pulling away 25-13. With momentum back on its side, BGSU cruised through the fourth set, leading by as many as 10 before a late Eastern Michigan rally made the final score 25-20.

Butterfield took over in the fifth set, posting five kills, three of which came on the Falcons' final four points. BGSU led 10-9 when Butterfield sparked a three-point run on a kill and pushed Bowling Green ahead 13-9 with another. At 13-10, she picked up her 21st kill of the match and an Eastern Michigan service error gave Bowling Green the 15-11 victory.

Laura Avila handed out 55 assists, the fifth time in the past 12 matches that she has dished out at least 50, while Tonyan had a career-best 18 digs.

Eastern Michigan drops to 13-10 with the loss and Bowling Green improves to 12-7. The Falcons take the momentum of the victory into a huge match with conference championship implications Saturday night. With a 7-0 MAC record, the Falcons will play at West Division leader Central Michigan, 6-1 in MAC play, at 7 p.m.