Falcons Drop Two Matches In Hampton Inn Invitational

Saturday, August 30

Bowling Green, Ohio

12 PM

Bowling Green State University

0-2

Middle Tennessee State

1-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Middle Tenn. State	25	22	25	19	15	3
Bowling Green	17	25	23	25	9	2

August 30, 2014 | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

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

Boxscore vs. Middle Tennessee State
Boxscore vs. Pittsburgh
Photo Gallery vs. Middle Tennessee State
Photo Gallery vs. Pittsburgh

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team lost a pair of matches on the final day of the team's home tournament Saturday, completing the Hampton Inn Invitational with an 0-3 record. BGSU lost to Middle Tennessee State in five grueling sets 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-9 before losing to Pittsburgh in straight sets 25-19, 25-7, 25-14.

Pittsburgh won the tournament with a 3-0 record, winning all three matches in sweeps. Dayton won 2-1 and Middle Tennessee State finished 1-2. Pittsburgh's Maria Genitsaridi earned tournament MVP honors and teammates Delaney Clesen was named all-tournament. MTSU's Jacqueline Lux and Rachel Shaughnessy were also named all-tournament, along with Dayton's Isolde Hannan and Alaina Turner. Erica Fullenkamp was named all-tournament for Falcons after averaging 7.8 assists per set and recording a team-high four aces on the weekend. She added 21 digs and six blocks.

Freshman Nicole Slimko followed up her strong debut performance from Friday night by totaling a team-high 14 kills Saturday morning against Middle Tennessee State. With 19 kills in the season-opener, Slimko became the first Falcon since Corey Domek in 2007 to record at least 14 kills in the first two matches of a season. She is the first freshman in more than 15 years to do that.

Another freshman, Paige O'Connor, got her first extended action of her collegiate career and she posted 12 kills against MTSU. Fullenkamp handed out 37 assists and picked up a team-high 10 digs, while senior Kelsey Bates added 10 kills and a career-best eight blocks.

After the Falcons struggled through the first set, Bates kick started BGSU's play in the second. She posted a kill on the first point of the stanza and recorded three kills and a block by the time the Falcons built an 8-5 lead. BGSU still led 14-11 when Middle Tennessee State rallied with four straight points to take a short-lived lead. The Falcons answered back with five consecutive points, capped by a Slimko ace, and MTSU never got closer than two the rest of the way.

In the third set, Bowling Green led 10-9 but the Blue Raiders followed with an 8-1 run to pull away. MTSU led 24-17 when BGSU rallied with six straight points but MTSU's LaDaisha Gillard closed out the frame with a kill for the 25-23 win.

Slimko posted six kills in the fourth set with half of those coming in Bowling Green's final three points to force a decisive fifth set. MTSU, though, put the match away with a 7-0 run to turn a 7-6 lead into a 14-6 advantage in that final frame.

Bowling Green stayed close by recording 14 blocks and making seven fewer attack errors than Middle Tennessee State. The Blue Raiders, though, held a 55-42 edge in digs, had seven more kills and five more aces.

In the final match of the night, Pittsburgh proved to be too much for a youthful BGSU squad in the season's first weekend, rolling to the victory. The Panthers hit .355 for the match, had 18 more digs than BGSU and 26 more kills.

Slimko ended with a team-high seven kills and Delaney Arkeilpane had nine digs in her first match at the libero position. Alyssa Maloney posted four kills and four blocks in defeat.

The first set was close early, with the two teams splitting the first 26 points. But Pittsburgh closed with a 12-6 run to pull away and then scored the first 13 points of the second set. Bowling Green did recover a bit in the third set and trailed by just three at 15-12. But Pittsburgh closed the match on a 10-2 run for the final score.

With 11 freshmen and sophomores among the 13 players on the roster, BGSU will use the next week to build on the experience gained from the past weekend. The Falcons will then compete in the Flyer-Raider Invitational Friday and Saturday in Dayton, Ohio. BGSU will face Cal State Bakersfield Friday at 7 pm before facing IPFW Saturday at 3 pm and Wright State Saturday at 8 pm.