Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
12-11, 8-3MAC
Miami
10-13, 2-9MAC
Miami’s Comeback Trick Turns Into Falcon Treat With Halloween Victory
October 31, 2013 | Volleyball
Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team won the opening two sets but Miami stormed all the way back to force a fifth-set match-point, but the Falcons avoided defeat by scoring the final three points in a Mid-American Conference match Thursday night at the Stroh Center. BGSU won the match 25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 20-25, 16-14 over the RedHawks to move to within a half game of first place in the conference.
Miami hit just .083 over the course of the first two sets and Bowling Green pulled away late from 22-22 ties in each of those stanzas. But the RedHawks went away from using Krista Brakauskas exclusively at setter to start the third and it sparked the Miami offense. Brakauskas and Meg Riley shared setting duties over the final three sets and the RedHawks hit .419 in the third, .271 in the fourth and .333 in the fifth.
After Miami evened the match with victories in the third and fourth sets, Bowling Green moved into familiar territory playing a fifth set against a MAC opponent. In fact, the Falcons entered the contest with a 9-1 record over the past two seasons in five setters against league opponents and Bowling Green used that confidence to get on top early.
Kills by Kaitlyn Skinner, Danielle Tonyan and Jelena Sunjic gave the Falcons a 4-1 lead and Bowling Green still led by three at 10-7. Miami, though, rallied with three straight points and finally took a 14-13 lead behind a Maris Below kill to force a match point. Paige Penrod, who struggled to find offensive rhythm throughout the match, came up with a big kill to tie the score and Tonyan followed with a kill to make it 15-14. Miami then followed with an error to give Bowling Green the 16-14 win.
In a match that featured 37 ties and 14 lead changes, Miami hit .221, the highest attack percentage for a Bowling Green opponent in a BGSU win this year. The Falcons posted their fourth consecutive win over the RedHawks, although both matches this year went five sets. In fact, Bowling Green battled back from a two-set deficit in Oxford earlier this year to win in five.
Five Falcons finished with double-digit dig totals and senior libero Ashley Dunn tied her career high with 29. Libby Dachenhaus added 14, while Penrod and Laura Avila each had 11. Skinner posted a career-best 10.
Offensively, Sunjic and Tonyan led the way. Sunjic had a career-best 22 kills and Tonyan added a season-high 21. Those were important totals as Bowling Green played without Lindsey Butterfield, the squad's kill leader, who is nursing an injury. The Falcons were also without starting setter Erica Fullenkamp, but senior Laura Avila ran the offense fluidly, posting a season-high 56 assists to go with her 11 digs and a block.
Freshman Alyssa Maloney set her new career-best with nine blocks in the match and Bowling Green had 14 blocks as a team, the fourth consecutive match in which the squad has posted a double-digit total.
With the win, Bowling Green improves to 12-11 on the season and 8-3 in MAC play. Miami falls to 10-13 overall and 2-9 in league action. The Falcons will head on the road to face 13-11 Western Michigan Saturday at 7 p.m. The Broncos are 6-5 in conference play this year and will be looking for revenge after Bowling Green defeated them in five sets in the MAC Tournament semifinals a year ago.
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