Falcons Headed To MAC Championship With Win Over WMU

Saturday, November 17

Geneva, Ohio

5:00 P.M.

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

November 17, 2012 | Volleyball

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

Boxscore

Geneva, Ohio – The Bowling Green volleyball team completed an improbable comeback Saturday evening at the SPIRE Institute, overcoming an 18-12 fourth-set deficit to defeat No. 3 seed Western Michigan in five sets in the MAC Tournament Semifinal 21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10. The win propels the No. 2 seeded Falcons to the MAC Championship match Saturday at 1 p.m. against No. 4 seed Northern Illinois.

After dropping both the first and third sets, Bowling Green looked to be headed towards elimination. The Falcons trailed 16-11 in the fourth when BGSU Head Coach Danijela Tomic used her final timeout of the set. Lindsey Butterfield posted a kill on the first point after the break but Western Michigan scored the next two to build an 18-12 lead.

The Falcons, though, began to chip away at the lead, scoring the next three points on a block, a Paige Penrod kill and a Western Michigan attack error. Then, down 21-16, Bowling Green reeled off seven consecutive points. A Laura Avila ace, followed by another Penrod kill made it 21-20. After a Western Michigan attack error, the Broncos called timeout to regroup with the score tied at 21-21.

The break didn't stop the Bowling Green momentum as the Falcons got a block on the next point and then a bad set from Western Michigan made it 23-21. WMU finally stopped the run, but with the Falcons leading 24-23, Kaitlyn Skinner and Leah Shaw combined on a block that evened the match up at two sets apiece.

Heading into the fifth set, Bowling Green had everything going its way and the confidence of six consecutive victories in five set matches. Sure enough, the Falcons scored the first six points of the fifth set and rolled to victory. Lindsey Butterfield had four kills in the final set and her team-high 15^th of the match was the clincher for the 15-10 win.

While Butterfield led the way with 15 kills, she also added a career-high 15 digs and four blocks. Penrod had 14 kills and added 20 digs and three blocks. Danielle Tonyan had 12 kills and a career-best eight blocks. Skinner tied her career-high with 10 blocks as Bowling Green racked up 19.5 for the match, dominating at the net defensively. Shaw added nine blocks and five kills. Avila handed out 47 assists and Dunn had a team-high 24 digs.

While Bowling Green controlled the net defensively, Western Michigan actually led in most team statistical categories. The Broncos had 13 more kills, seven more digs and one more ace, but Western Michigan was held to just a .103 attack percentage, including a negative attack percentage in both the second and fifth sets.

With the loss, Western Michigan's season comes to a close at 21-10. Bowling Green improves to 20-10, the Falcons' first 20-win season since going 25-9 in 2008. BGSU also advances to the MAC Championship match for the seventh time in program history, but the first since 2006. The team has won the championship just one time, defeating Miami in straight sets in 1991.

Bowling Green's opponent with be No. 4 seed Northern Illinois, a team that dropped the first two sets to No. 1 seed Ohio in the semifinals but stormed back to win the last three. NIU eliminated the Falcons in the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals a year ago and also beat Bowling Green in the final match of the regular season this year, costing the team a MAC regular season crown and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament.

The MAC Championship takes place at 1 p.m. Sunday and will be televised on SportsTime Ohio as well as ESPN3. The winner of the contest will earn the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, with first and second round matches taking place Nov. 29-Dec. 1.