Battle Of I-75 Belongs To The Falcons!

Friday, October 24

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-16, 2-7MAC

Toledo (Overflow The Stroh/Youth Volleyball Night)

1-22, 0-10MAC

Toledo

Bowling Green

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

October 24, 2014 | Volleyball

Box Score

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

Photo Gallery
Boxscore

Bowling Green, Ohio – In front of the fourth-largest crowd to watch a BGSU Volleyball match inside the Stroh Center, Bowling Green dismantled rival Toledo Friday night with a 25-22, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21 victory. Senior setter Erica Fullenkamp picked up her 2,000^th career assist, head coach Danijela Tomic won her 199^th career match and 879 fans watched the Falcons improve to 27-3 at home all-time against Toledo.

"It's always nice to beat Toledo," Tomic said. "Our fans appreciate it and our team appreciates it. We wanted to make sure we came out ready and earn the win. We had a slow start in a couple of sets but we were able to come back. I loved how our team fought and how they played with a lot of energy."

For her part, Fullenkamp posted a double-double, recording 47 assists and 14 digs, adding three aces, a block and two kills. She handed out kills to five different Falcons, each of which posted at least eight kills on the night. Sophomore Jelena Sunjic and freshman Nicole Slimko led the way with 14 each and freshman Paige O'Connor added 11 kills.

"Erica is the model of the student-athlete we want in our program," Tomic said. "She has grown so much. She is all grit and resilience and competitiveness and leadership. I love to watch her play. Her teammates love to play for her. As a setter, she carries a big load every day. This is a kid who works hard every point and every day in practice."

As a team, Bowling Green had its second-best offensive night of the year with a .263 attack percentage. The Falcons also held a 74-70 edge in digs and posted five aces. Toledo did have 8.0 blocks, two more than the Falcons, and the Rockets had one more kill than BGSU. However, Toledo also had 23 attack errors, seven more than Bowling Green.

BGSU's only real strong start to a set came in the opener as the Falcons scored six of the first eight points. Eventually, though, Toledo rallied late and tied the score at 17-17 on an Alex Hines service ace. The Rockets then took the lead at 20-19 but the Falcons responded. Kelsey Bates and Jelena Sunjic combined on a block to tie the score and Sunjic and Alyssa Maloney had back-to-back kills for a 22-20 BGSU lead. After Toledo cut the deficit to one with a kill, Sunjic and Paige O'Connor each had a kill to give the Falcons a three-point cushion and O'Connor's sixth kill of the frame was the set-clincher.

In both the second and third sets, Toledo got off to quick starts. In the second, Toledo led 7-3 but the Falcons used an extended 14-3 spurt to take control. Fullenkamp had two aces during a stretch of six consecutive service points as BGSU went ahead 17-10. Toledo never really threatened the rest of the way and Bowling Green won 25-20.

Needing a win to extend the match, Toledo again got off quickly, scoring five of the first six points in the third set. Bowling Green rallied to tie the score on four separate occasions but the Falcons were never able to grab the lead. Holding a 20-19 lead late, Toledo used a 5-2 run to force a fourth set.

Bowling Green dominated the middle portion of the fourth set to close out the match. The frame was tied at 10-10, but the Falcons used a 10-2 run to put the contest away. Sunjic had two kills and Nicole Slimko had a kill and an ace during the run. Toledo did make things a bit interesting down the stretch, fending off six straight match points until Sunjic's 14^th kill ended the dream comeback.

With the win, Bowling Green improves to 5-16 overall and 2-7 in Mid-American Conference play. Toledo falls to 1-22 overall and 0-10 in the conference. The Falcons will host Ball State Saturday night at 7 pm with a chance to begin a winning streak and an opportunity to climb the MAC standings.