Falcons Flash Ahead To 2-0 With Sweep Of Kent State

Saturday, September 22

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Kent State

September 22, 2012 | Volleyball

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

Boxscore

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green volleyball team used 10 blocks in the first two sets to take Kent State out of its offensive rhythm and the Falcons rolled to a 25-15, 25-21, 25-17 sweep of the Golden Flashes Saturday night to improve to 2-0 in MAC play.

BGSU picked up its second sweep in as many nights, moving to 2-0 in the conference play without dropping a set for the first time since 2006. The Falcons did it by holding Kent State to an .067 attack percentage and outdigging the Golden Flashes by 11.

Bowling Green dominated defensively behind 16 digs from Ashley Dunn and 10 from Libby Dachenhaus. On the front line of defense, Leah Shaw had a career-best seven blocks, while Laura Avila added three.

It was the defense that carried the team to victory because the offense struggled to find a flow in the first two sets. Bowling Green had not won a match all year in which it hit below .237 and the Falcons were only .154 in the first and .073 in the second. BGSU did hit .361 in the third to put the match away, but that only raised the team's hitting percentage to .190 for the contest.

Despite that fact, four players had at least eight kills for the Falcons, led by Lindsey Butterfield and Paige Penrod with 11 each. Shaw added nine to go with her seven blocks and Danielle Tonyan had eight.

Bowling Green only trailed once in the entire match, falling behind 3-2 in the second set. But the Falcons set the tone quickly, scoring the first four points of the match and then using a five-point run midway through the frame to roll to a 25-15 win.

In the second, the Falcons again used a spurt midway through the second to take control. Leading 12-11, Bowling Green scored five in a row, sparked by a kill and block from Shaw. Kent State chipped away at the lead and closed to within two at 23-21, but Kari Galen posted a solo block and teamed up with Butterfield on another block for the 25-21 victory.

In the third set, BGSU went on an early 9-1 run to take an 11-3 lead and Kent State never threatened again, getting no closer than five points the rest of the way.

Avila handed out 35 assists and added eight digs to her three blocks on the night. Cassie Berning had two aces and six digs, while Penrod came up one dig shy of a double-double with nine.

Kent State falls to 4-10 overall and 1-1 in MAC play with the loss. BGSU improves to 6-7 overall and 2-0 in conference play. With an Akron loss, Bowling Green is now the lone undefeated team remaining in the MAC East. The Falcons are one game ahead of Ohio, Kent State and Akron.