Miscues Haunt Falcons in Loss to Central Michigan

Friday, October 16

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-15, 1-6MAC

Central Michigan (Alumnae Night)

9-12, 4-4MAC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Central Michigan	25	25	25	3
Bowling Green	20	23	20	0

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

October 16, 2015 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Stats: Box Score (PDF)
Stats: Box Score (HTML)
Video: Post Match Interview with Coach Tomic
Photos: Photo Gallery (Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing & Communications)

Bowling Green, Ohio – BGSU's Jelena Sunjic extended her double digit kills streak to eight straight matches with a match-high 12 kills, while freshman libero Kallie Seimet pushed her streak to eight straight matches with double digit digs with a match-high 19, however, BGSU couldn't overcome a number of untimely miscues in a 3-0 straight sets loss to Central Michigan in a MAC cross-divisional match on Friday night at the Stroh Center.

The Falcons were defeated by the Chippewas 25-20, 25-23 and 25-20.

BGSU committed 16 attack errors, eight service errors and seven receiving errors on the night.

"It's a disappointing loss. I don't think we played well. I don't think we executed our game plan. There were still a lot of unforced errors. Our offense wasn't…didn't work tonight. We did okay with our hitting percentage in the first set and then it kind of went downhill," commented head coach Danijela Tomic. "The credit goes to Central Michigan. They played with a lot of heart. They were very aggressive. They didn't allow us to play better. Even the things that I think that we could have taken control of we didn't do it."

Along with her match-high 12 kills, Sunjic nearly notched a double-double with nine digs. Fellow outside hitter Nicole Slimko finished with nine kills, while junior middle Alyssa Maloney tallied six kills and two block assists on the night.

The Chips had five different players with six kills or more for the match and hit .255 overall as a team in the three set win. Jordan Bueter led CMU with nine kills, four service aces and 14 digs, while setter Kathia Sanchez totaled 26 assists, six digs and three solo blocks at the net.

BGSU was sharp offensively in the first set, picking up 12 kills to just four errors on 31 total attempts and posting an attack percentage of .258 overall for the opening set. However, CMU proved to be just a little bit better, as the Chips had 12 kills to just three errors on 30 total attempts and edged the Falcons with a team attack percentage of .300.

An Isabel Kovacic kill kicked-off the match to put the Falcons on top 1-0 early.

After two straight points pushed CMU in front by one at 2-1, the Falcons' took advantage of a Chips' attack error to tie the set up at 2-2.

A kill from CMU's Kallie Mulford on the next service gave the lead back to the visitors in gold and maroon, as the Chips ran out to an 8-3 lead on back-to-back Bueter service aces.

Out of a BGSU timeout, the Falcons' went to the right arm of Sunjic who swung and posted a kill to trim the CMU lead to four at 8-4.

The two teams then swapped points until spikes from Slimko and Maloney, followed by a CMU attack error, put the Falcons down just two at 10-8.

Bowling Green continued to stay right with the Chips when a Madeline Brandewie kill put the score at 15-13 in favor of the visitors from CMU.

Yet, untimely service errors, the Falcons had six in the opening set, kept BGSU from overtaking the Chips, until two straight points from Maloney, by way of a kill and an ace, tied the set up at 18-18.

CMU answered with kills from Sanchez and Bueter to retake the lead at 20-18 and then with the score at 21-20, scored four straight points to hold off the Falcons for the 25-20 first set win.

BGSU looked to even the match up with a hot start to the second set, in which the Falcons took a 3-0 lead highlighted by a kill from Slimko.

The tight match continued however, as CMU responded with three straight points of its own to tie the set up at 3-3.

The next three points would see a tie and a lead change, as CMU jumped back on top by one at 5-4 on a Mulford spike.

Following a Katie Scholten kill to tie the set up for a third time at 5-5, CMU used another 3-0 run to take an 8-5 lead on another Bueter service ace.

Refusing to quit, BGSU clawed back to tie the set up at 9-9, yet couldn't grab the lead away from CMU who picked up a kill from Jessica Meichtry to push the visitors back in front at 10-9.

The Chips extended its lead to as much as much as seven on three separate occasions before taking set point at 24-18 on a BGSU service error.

Not willing to concede defeat, BGSU fought off five set points by way of a Slimko slam, a CMU error, a Maloney kill, and back-to-back attack errors from the Chips to get to within one at 24-23, only to see a Bueter kill help CMU escape with the 25-23 set win.

Again the Falcons got off to a strong start in the third set, as BGSU took a 4-0 lead on a Sunjic kill to open up the frame.

The Orange and Brown continued to stay out in front of the Chips with kills from Brandewie and Sunjic, until a CMU kill from Taylor Robertson ignited a 4-0 spurt for the Chips who fired back to take a 9-8 lead on three straight Falcon miscues.

The two teams would then tie the set up at 9-9 and 10-10 before another mistake by BGSU allowed the Chips to retake the lead at 11-10.

CMU did not look back, as the Falcons fell behind by five at 16-11 and wouldn't get any closer than two at 16-14 on a spike from Sunjic when a BGSU error gave the Chips set point at 24-16.

Showing determination, BGSU took advantage of a CMU service error, and registered three straight kills from Maloney, Sunjic and Slimko to fend off four match points and put the score at 24-20.

However, it proved to be too little too late, as a Paige Carey kill sealed the 25-20 set win and the 3-0 match victory for the Chips.

BGSU had just 2.0 total team blocks on the night and struggled to get any type of offensive rhythm hitting just .165 overall as a team.

The Falcons (5-15, 1-6 MAC) will look to bounce back against the Eastern Michigan Eagles tomorrow night, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. at the Stroh Center. The match will serve as the Falcons' "Dig Pink" match.

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