Volleyball Season Ends With Loss To Golden Flashes

Saturday, November 15

Kent, Ohio

7 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-21, 4-12MAC

Kent State

16-13, 8-8MAC

Bowling Green

Kent State

November 15, 2014 | Volleyball

Box Score

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

Box score

Kent, Ohio – The 2014 Bowling Green volleyball season came to a close Saturday evening as the Falcons lost to Kent State in a hard fought four-set match 25-23, 25-22, 27-29, 25-20. With the loss, the careers of seniors Erica Fullenkamp and Kelsey Bates came to a close.

BGSU's chances of extending their season with a trip to the Mid-American Conference Tournament were actually snapped a night earlier after a loss to Ohio, but the Falcons battled Kent State tough throughout. But some of the same problems that hampered BGSU throughout the season appeared Saturday night, chiefly an inability to close out sets due to the youth on the squad with 11 of the 13 players being freshmen or sophomores.

"I am so proud of the team and how hard we fought until the last point," BGSU Head Coach Danijela Tomic said. "Having five players in double-digit digs shows how much heart and effort our players played with. We have grown so much as a team this year and the future is bright for our program."

The first set was tied 18-18 and the second set was tied at 22-22, but Kent State was able to close out both of those frames. In the first set, the Golden Flashes stepped up their offensive efficiency, scoring six of the final seven points on kills for the 25-23 win. In similar fashion, Kent State recorded back-to-back kills in the second set after BGSU had tied the score at 22-22. An attack error closed out that frame.

The third set was a see-saw affair that saw 18 ties and eight lead changes. BGSU never faced a set point despite the frame going over the allotted 25-point score and it took the Falcons until their fifth offensive set point to close out the stanza. At 27-27, Kent State had a service error and Nicole Slimko followed with a kill to extend the match.

In the fourth, Bowling Green jumped out to an early 9-6 lead and the Falcons still led by two points as late as 18-16. The Golden Flashes, though, put the match away with a seven-point run that included five BGSU attack errors.

Bowling Green hit .289 in the first set but struggled to find offensive rhythm after that and finished at just .161 for the match. The Golden Flashes hit .224 and were able to overcome eight aces from the Falcons, five more than Kent State recorded. BGSU also won the statistical battle with 12.0 blocks but Kent had two more kills and four more digs.

Individually, Jelena Sunjic and Slimko led the way offensively with 15 kills apiece. Paige O'Connor added 10 kills. Libero Madeline Garda ended with 24 digs, her fifth consecutive match with at least 20. Michaela Gabanic added 15 digs and Delaney Arkeilpane and Slimko had 13 each.

Kent State improves to 16-13 overall and 8-8 in MAC play with the win. BGSU ends its season at 7-21 overall and 4-12 in conference.