Wichita State Beats Falcons In Five Sets

Friday, September 12

Omaha, Neb.

5:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

2-5

Wichita State

5-3

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Wichita State	25	25	28	33	16	3
Bowling Green	22	23	30	35	14	2

September 12, 2014 | Volleyball

Box Score

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

Boxscore

Omaha, Neb. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team battled back from two sets down against Wichita State Friday night on the opening night of the Bluejay Invitational, hosted by Creighton, but the Shockers edged out the Falcons 25-22, 25-23, 28-30, 33-35, 16-14.

The match marked the fourth time over the first seven matches of 2014 that Bowling Green played in a five-set match and it included the longest set for BGSU since NCAA Division I changed scoring to 25-point sets for 2008. In fact, a volleyball match can't get much closer as four of the five sets were decided by just two points and the other was a three-point Wichita State first-set victory.

Bowling Green held the advantage in numerous statistical categories, posting seven aces and allowing just three, holding an 84-83 edge in digs, and outblocking Wichita State 14.0-10.0. However, the Shockers had eight more kills than BGSU and hit .196, slightly better than the Falcons' .177.

By fighting off two match points in the third set and four more in the fourth, Bowling Green showed its resilience and tied the contest up. Wichita State, though, built a 9-5 lead in the fifth before the Falcons again stormed back to get within one at 10-9. Still leading 12-11, the Shockers scored on back-to-back points to again sit on the precipice of victory. Paige O'Connor, Nicole Slimko and Kelsey Bates posted consecutive kills to tie the match again.

Wichita State, though, regrouped after a timeout and got a pair of Katie Reilly kills to win the match.

"I love how our team fought and never gave up in the match," BGSU Head Coach Danijela Tomic said. "We showed so much resilience and character coming back after losing the first two sets to win the next two. We wish we could have done the same in the fifth set but unfortunately we came up short. This was a fun match to coach, a fun match to watch and fun match to play in. We are getting better each match we play and the future looks very bright for our young team."

After two sets, it looked as if Wichita State was on its way to a quick victory. The Shockers, in fact, scored five of the final six points in the second set to overcome a 22-20 deficit and build momentum for the third set.

But BGSU used an 8-2 run behind four Slimko kills to take control in the third, 14-9. Wichita State chipped away at the lead and eventually tied the score at 21-21. Slimko, though, again came up big late. She posted kills on all of the Falcons' final four points, including three in a row that turned a 28-27 deficit into a 30-28 win.

The fourth set looked like it would be a blowout as Bowling Green jumped out to an 18-11 lead, but Wichita State used an 11-4 run to tie the score at 22-22, beginning a see-saw battle that turned into a marathon stanza. BGSU fought off match points at 24-23, 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26. The Falcons got a kill from Alyssa Maloney and an attack error to get its first set point at 28-27. But Wichita came up with the clutch point and then fought off more set point attempts at 29-28, 30-29, 31-30, 32-31 and 33-32. After an Ashlyn Driskill kill tied the score at 33-33, Maloney ripped off a kill and Wichita State had an attack error to even up the match with the 35-33 win.

Four Falcons recorded at least 14 kills, led by Slimko and Maloney with 16 each. Maloney hit a career-best .448 and those 16 kills signified a new career-high as well. Kelsey Bates added 15 kills and O'Connor had 14. Madeline Garda picked up 23 digs and Slimko had a career-high 17. Bates tallied a match-best eight blocks. Erica Fullenkamp had a double-double with 52 assists and 10 digs.

With the win, Wichita State improves to 5-3 on the season. Bowling Green falls to 2-5 and will play two more matches in the Bluejay Invitational Saturday. The Falcons will face Creighton at 1 pm and Pepperdine at 6:30 pm.